Protect Our Beaches, Don’t Pour Fats, Oils and Grease down the sink

Christmas is almost here and millions of people will soon be preparing the biggest roast dinner of the year. Unfortunately, our beaches can suffer as a result due to the huge volume of fats, oils and greases (FOGs) poured down kitchen sinks.  When FOGs are poured down sinks or drains, they quickly cool and congeal on sewer walls, restricting the amount of sewage the system can process resulting in raw sewage overflows into rivers, the sea or, even worse, into our homes.   

To highlight this problem, Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) and the Environment Agency are teaming up to launch the new FOGS campaign – Protect Your Beaches, Stop Pouring Fats, Oils and Greases - this Christmas to remind the public that simple actions in our kitchens can help protect the beach environment and coastline. 

The UK Water industry estimates there are 150,000 sewer blockages caused by FOGs being poured down the sink.  These blockages can result in sewage discharges from combined sewer overflows (CSOs) at many popular beaches across Cornwall.

The new FOGs campaign, Protect Your Beaches, Stop Pouring Fats, Oils and Greases was launched to business communities in Seaton and East Looe in Cornwall, which are both failing basic European water quality standards in part due to fats, oils and greases in the system. In early December SAS distributed FOGs posters, leaflets & stickers packed full of handy hints and top tips to help businesses manage their kitchen, protect local beaches and improve water quality at over 150 local businesses. 

SAS is now inviting the public to help play their part.  For a free Protect Your Beaches, Stop Poring Fats, Oils and Greases resource pack simply email info@sas.org.uk or call 01872 553 001.  Seaton and East Looe are now best placed to adopt simple actions in household and commercial kitchens to help protect local beaches and improve water quality. 

SAS Campaign Director Andy Cummins says:  “Seaton and East Looe are the first communities in the UK to benefit from this new campaign. Surfers Against Sewage hope to promote Seaton & East Looe as outstanding national examples of community action delivering positive changes to protect our precious oceans and beaches.”

Environment Agency, Environmental Monitor Leader, Claudine Foniter says:  “We are providing the communities at Seaton and East Looe the opportunity to help improve water quality at local beaches.  We hope that the community and businesses will all help play their part in delivering these improvements through SAS’s FOGS campaign.”

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One comment

• Cat says:

  March 1, 2013 at 5:19 pm

  hi, perhaps you could let people know how to dispose of the fat. Oils can be cooled and put weekly excess oil in a bottle or sealed jam jar and put it in the weekly rubbish (maybe there is some environmentally friendly container). Fats can be cooled, put into newspaper and put in the food recycling box. Small amounts can be buried in the garden.

  If you have large quantities, like from a restaurant, you can find your local bio-diesel place and the next bus you see maybe using your oil as it goes by.

  Small amounts can be poured into a metal container or onto cardboard or newspaper and used as quick-start fire logs.

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