College to help collect holiday grease

The Orange Coast College Recycling Center, along with the Costa Mesa Sanitary District, will collect and recycle residential kitchen grease, oil and fat, which shouldn’t be poured down the drain or thrown in the trash.

Pouring grease down the sink can cause blocked drainpipes and sewer back-ups that can send sewage to the ocean. Throwing Thanksgiving bi-products in the garbage contaminates trash trucks and landfills.

Grease recycling was started last year as a pilot program just for Thanksgiving. Deep-frying just one turkey, for example, creates about four gallons of oil.

The Recycling Center is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is on the Orange Coast campus on Adams Avenue between Harbor Boulevard and Fairview Road. The center will be closed for Thanksgiving.

— Britney Barnes

Twitter: @britneyjbarnes