How Thanksgiving Can Cause Sewage Spills

An interesting alert came in to the newsroom Wednesday from San Diego Coastkeeper outlining how turkey dinners can cause sewage spills.

Intrigued? Read on.

Fats, oil and grease (F.O.G.) built up the water pipes of our city's system can, over time, lead to sewage spills, according to Jamie Ortiz, marketing director for the nonprofit aimed at protecting the region's inland and coastal waters.

If consuming all that F.O.G. into your body doesn't trouble you, chances are you don't think twice before spilling it down the drain.

But Coastkeeper wants you to think again and follow these tips:

• For small amounts of F.O.G., scrape out or use paper towels to wipe your pans, and then place the F.O.G. or soiled paper towels in the garbage.
• Pour excess fat into used milk or frozen juice cartons, let harden and then place it in your garbage.
• For larger amounts of F.O.G. (like after deep frying that turkey), City of San Diego residents can recycle their cooking oil and grease at the Miramar Landfill Recycling Center.

Read more at the group's website.
 

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