Now fats good advice!

Supporting the Think Before You Pour campaign is celebrity chef Donal Skehan who has shared his most environmentally friendly ways to dispose of your FOGs after cooking.

Donal recommends that we pour our FOGs into a reusable container like an empty egg carton or yoghurt pot, and then empty it into a food-waste bin when we’re done.

Although FOGs might seem like liquid when poured, once they cool along the wastewater pipes they can cause disastrous blockages in homes, the public wastewater network and at wastewater treatment plants.

These blockages can lead to overflows of sewage that can damage the environment. When FOGs combine with wipes and other sanitary items that shouldn’t be flushed down the toilet, ‘fatbergs’ can form.

“Everyone cooking this Easter can have a positive impact on the environment directly from their own kitchen. Fatbergs begin in the kitchen, so always have a reusable container on hand to catch your FOGs, and never pour them down the sink,” said Donal.

The Think Before You Pour campaign is run by Clean Coasts and Irish Water who say that one in three people living in Ireland have admitted to pouring their FOGs down their kitchen sinks.

Tom Cuddy, Head of Asset Operations, Irish Water, said: “We remove thousands of fatbergs and blockages from our public sewers every year. We are reminding people not to use the kitchen sink as a bin and to help us to safeguard the wastewater network and the environment.”

Sinead McCoy of Clean Coasts added: “The prevention of blockages in our wastewater systems by fats, oils and greases is something everybody can engage in. Simply by being more conscious of our behaviour at the sink, and by making small changes, we can all have a positive impact on our natural environment.”