Picture the City of Calgary’s wastewater system like the arteries in your body: Reduce the fats, oils and greases, and you reduce the risk of a regrettable event.

In the case of fats, oils and greases being poured down the drain of your Calgary home, that could mean a wastewater backup, a frustrating clog or a potential pipe break.  

That’s not what you want this holiday season when you’re hosting that Christmas soirée, or the weekend brunch with family and friends, right?

Marissa Mitton, leader of wastewater operations and maintenance at the City of Calgary, said they wanted to start raising the awareness with citizens that fats, oils and greases shouldn’t be poured down drains.

Mitton said that it’s a bit of a myth that you can pour cooking oils, dairy products, sauces, gravies, marinades, salad dressings or the fats from cooking things like bacon, ground beef, turkey or ham, down the drain. Even if you use hot water to keep them soluble.

“You actually want to be recycling those; put them in the organic bin,” she said.

One of the easiest ways to dispose of these sometimes sloppy substances is to use paper towel to wipe out the container to soak up as much of the fats, oils and greases as possible. Then, put the paper towel in the green bin and in a short time it solidifies so it doesn’t make as much mess, Mitton said.

“By the time it goes out on the recycling day, it’s not a problem at all,” she said.

Downstream impact on Calgary’s pipes

While it seems like something out of a science-fiction novel, so-called ‘fatbergs’ have been a problem in cities around the world. In 2021, a 300-tonne fatberg clogged the sewers in Birmingham, England.

Calgary may not see a behemoth of that nature in the wastewater pipes, Mitton said there’s a crew of 100 working seven days a week in the city dealing with these kinds of issues across their system.

She said the city spends more than $3 million annually repairing wastewater pipes.

“Sometimes the blockages get so bad, or there’s so much grease that we don’t have the ability to take that out with our tools that kind of work inside the pipes,” she said.

“We have to excavate and open up the road to get them to the pipe to repair it.”

Fats, oils and greases can exacerbate the pipe situation, as once hardened in the pipes, it can act as a catchment for other items that shouldn’t be flushed down toilets or put down drains, Mitton said.

The holiday season is a particularly busy time, too. Mitton said they do generally get more backup calls over the holiday season. It’s a good time to raise awareness, she said.

“We have a lot of people gathering and generally when you’re making a meal, you’re kind of looking to clean up as quickly as possible,” she said.

“When it’s out of sight, out of mind, pour it down the drain, no big deal. But the last thing you want when you’re hosting a holiday party is to have a sewer backup.”

Mitton is encouraging Calgarians to start small. Put the bacon grease in the green bin. Maybe just scrape out the moldy sour cream container. Pro-tip, freeze dairy products like milk or cream if it’s ready for disposal, and you can cut away the container and put it in the bin.

“I think the biggest thing is every little bit counts,” she said.

Other holiday recycling notes

Along with the increased holiday cooking and gatherings, there’s another area that produces a lot of potential waste: Presents.

According to the City of Calgary, they generally collect three times more recycling in the two weeks after Christmas than any other time of year.

“Calgarians generally produce more waste over the holidays, but it doesn’t have to be this way,” said Sharon Howland, Leader of Program Management with Waste & Recycling Services.

“Instead, celebrate with new holiday traditions that can help make the season a little greener.”

The City of Calgary has put together a host of ideas online to green up the holidays, and follow some of the standard conventions they’ve set out over the years. Those are mostly around reducing, reusing and recycling where possible.