Many plumbers will warn you to avoid pouring grease or oil down your sink drains and garbage disposals.

Most of us think of grease as liquid and assume it’s okay to pour it down your drain or your kitchen’s garbage disposal. But – we would be wrong. The problem is that once that grease cools, it does solidify to some extent. And that is when the problems begin. Grease can harden and cause a clog.

So, what to do with that leftover oil you just fried your chicken in? Here are some of our tips.

1) Do what some of our grandparents used to do – designate a container (like a coffee can) to pour the grease into but make sure to strain it into the container.. You can keep this container on the counter. But, if you plan to use that oil again then keep it in the refrigerator. Note: never re-use oil that you fried fish in or if that oil smoked.

2) Once the container is full you can dispose of this oil at an appropriate recycling center in your community. The following are a few of the recycling centers in and around the Atlanta Georgia area that will accept used cooking oil.

Center for Hard to Recycle Materials
1110 Hill Street SE,
Atlanta, Ga
404-600-6386

Southern Green Industries
4565 Frederick Dr
Atlanta, Ga
404-419-6887

ACC Recycling
725 Hancock Industrial Way
Athens, GA
706-613-3512

ACC Landfill
5700 Lexington Road
Athens, GA
706-613-3508

Merk Miles Transfer Station
3225 Mark Road
College Park, GA
404-629-1700

Sandy Springs Recycling Center
470 Morgan Falls Road
Sandy Springs, GA 30350
770-551-7766

Roswell Recycling Center
11570 Maxwell Road
Roswell, GA 30009
770-442-8822

3) A creative way to re-use cooking oil is to make soap out of it. This is afun and crafty way to make use of your oil!

4) You can also re-use cooking oil to grease gardening tools, to remove pollen, bugs, grime and dirt from many surfaces and it can even help to remove paint from your hands. There are many ways that you can creatively re-use cooking oil. Check out the website at Mahoneys.com for more.

If you are having drain or garbage disposal problems, call Atlantis Plumbing today at 770-505-8570. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.