Can you join us to prevent a Christmas fat-berg crisis with #binfat2winthat campaign!?

With Christmas getting much closer, besides the festive fun, every family must be planning for the Christmas dinner – which means the table filled with plenty of food and drinks and to be honest, atleast one-third of it would be thrown in the waste bin poured into the sink the next morning!

So why are we talking about this now!? 

Would you be keen to be calling out a plumber over Christmas to deal with sinks and loos that have over-indulged with left-overs, cooking scraps and fat, and the inevitable Christmas gravy. Let’s face it, given that the average Christmas dinner contains around 48g fat* it could well be a likely scenario for many.

According to the study, conducted by water company United Utilities about the fat which all too often ends up down our drains, the average North West household pours 14Ibs of fat, oils and grease down the drain in a year.  Across the region, this equates to 2.9 million stone – the weight of over 243,000 UK adults (more than the population of Oldham!)

What’s the actual issue of carelessly discarding the waste!?

The survey results from United Utilities reveals a shocking fact that it attends over 53,000 call-outs to pipe blockages every year at a cost of £20 million. AND… FOR YOU TO CAREFULLY CONSIDER –  Insurance companies often won’t pay out if the problem was caused by fats, oils and grease.

The study also found that people are keen for change.

Over 80% of people want to ditch their bad cooking habits and lose weight by eating more healthily.

So, what is the best way to deal with Fat wastage:

It is very simple –  #binfat2winthat – However traditional or stylish your cooking and recipes are to make that Roast potato, remember the perfect way to dispose of leftover fats is not to pour it down the drains.

United Utilities is launching the ‘My Roastie Photie’ competition, asking people to post a photo of their perfectly cooked roast potato with the hashtag #binfat2winthat – giving five people the chance to bag £100 of food vouchers.

The aim of the #binfat2winthat campaign:

• The water company wants to help people learn how they can keep their own drains healthy, as many people don’t know that water companies aren’t responsible for fixing blockages on domestic properties.

• The aim of the study was to understand more about how people use and dispose of fats to better tackle the issue. It found that many people (47%) dispose of fat and food waste by pouring it down the sink or loo, rather than putting it in the bin, even though over 60% know that doing so will cause blockages and damage to pipes

Follow these top tips and you keep your drains in tip top condition

• Before washing, pour or scrape fat and sauces (like gravy), from roasting trays, pans and plates into a heat resistant container, when cool put in the bin
• Small amounts of grease left in pans or on plates can be wiped away with kitchen roll and thrown into the bin
• Use a sink strainer to capture food scraps and put them in the bin
• For larger quantities of oils, contact your local council who’ll let you know how to dispose of them and where your local recycling centre is

Fat Trappers could be of great and cheaper alternates to avoid such unpleasant consequences. There are more tips at  http://www.unitedutilities.com/fattrap.aspx  to help keep your drains in tip top condition.

There is also a recipe book for you to download at http://www.unitedutilities.com/documents/festive-food.pdf to make the perfect roast potato that could win the prize for you!