Things to Consider When You Dispose of Cooking Oil

Cooking oil is an essential part of a grocery list and a thing that nearly every household uses every day. It’s such a common thing that we usually take it for granted and don’t give extra thought to correct usage of it and the proper ways to dispose of it. If you get rid of cooking oil improperly, it can cause damage to the items in your household, such as pipes.

Preparing meals with cooking oil, especially something that has a lot fat like pork or turkey that requires grease, will result in a vast amount of cooking oil leftover. In this case, you need to know the effective and safe ways on how to dispose of cooking oil and have the appliances and piping undamaged as well as stay eco-friendly. We have gathered some efficient tips on how to dispose of cooking oil.

Never Pour It Down the Drain

When you have a vast amount of cooking oil leftover, it seems like an obvious thing to do as well as very tempting. It’s liquid, it’ll float away, right? Well, not exactly. It’s highly not recommended to pour used cooking oil directly in the drain. The oil will solidify and may clog your sewer pipes and it can even lead to all the pipes and basements in the neighborhood to be clogged. This point is extremely important to bear in mind. So, next the actual do’s for cooking oil disposal.

Throw It Away in Your Trash

After you’re done cooking, let the oil cool off and then you can pour it into some unrecyclable container, for example, an empty milk carton or a takeout box. So, pour the cooled off oil in there and seal it well and just stick it in your refrigerator until the next time you’ll be taking out the trash. Throw away the used cooking oil together with the rest of your household waste.

Recycle the Cooking Oil

Another good way (and environmentally friendly at the same time) to dispose of cooking oil is to recycle it. There are various organizations that offer cooking oil recycling programs. So, check with your local public work department to find out where you can go to for such a service. Google search and a phone call will be the fastest way to find an organization where you can deliver your cooking oil and they will take care of it.

Add It to Your Compost Pile

If you enjoy gardening and grow something in your yard, whether these are some veggies or trees and flowers, you can add the used cooking oil to your compost pile.

Yes, indeed, the earthworms like the cooking oil. So feel free to add the cooking oil to your compost pile as a eco-friendly way to dispose of it. However, you should be careful with it and not include too much of it to prevent the hydrophobic barriers from forming. If you are not sure how to do it right, it’s better to conduct a little research so you don’t damage your yard.

So, next time you have cooking oil leftover, you will know how to dispose of cooking oil properly. And remember, that even small amounts of cooking oil can cause damage if taken care of improperly. So, wipe it out with a napkin or a paper towel that you can easily throw away, but don’t pour it in the drain.