You can go green this Black Friday by recycling your used cooking oil at the Gobble Grease Toss. If you fried your turkey on Thanksgiving, we’ll take your used cooking oil for free on Friday, Nov. 25, at Redwood Cooperative School, 166 Crestwood Dr., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Gobble Grease Toss, now in its thirteenth year, is a partnership between the City of Lexington, the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (UK CAER), Redwood School and Kelley Green Biofuel. This event allows Lexington residents to recycle hundreds of gallons of cooking oil while also bringing attention to the harm caused by pouring oils and grease down the drain.
Cooking oil that is collected will be used for biofuel research with UK CAER. Kelley Green Biofuel recycles the remainder of the cooking oil. “The Gobble Grease Toss connects our research to the community by giving us access to used oil from people’s homes. The partnership with Kelley Green Biofuel ensures that the entirety of the oil collected is converted to fuel since CAER’s processing capacity is limited,” said Eduardo Santillan-Jimenez, Program Manager with UK CAER and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the UK Department of Chemistry
The students and families at Redwood Cooperative School are looking forward to co-hosting the Gobble Grease Toss again. “This event provides a way for our students to learn about clean energy and environmental sustainability,” said Sarah Cummins, Head of Redwood. “They are learning that our daily choices have an impact on the environment and their future. Our students will help with this event and encourage the Lexington community be responsible about cooking oil waste this holiday season.”
The Gobble Grease Toss is free for all Fayette County residents (no businesses, please). Please have your cooking oil in a disposable container with a lid in your trunk. Oil should be brought in a hard container like a jug or bucket with a lid, not a bag. Remain in your car and a volunteer will remove the oil for you.
If you cannot make it to the Gobble Grease Toss, you can properly dispose of cooking oil by hardening it in the refrigerator and placing it in your green trash cart. Cooking oil should never be poured down sink drains, as it can clog pipes in both your home and the city’s sewer system.
For more information on the Gobble Grease Toss, call LexCall at 3-1-1 or (859) 425-2255 or visit lexingtonky.gov/GobbleGreaseToss
