The Dallas Green Zine

Cooking oil - including fats, grease, lard, etc. - are not good for the pipes in your house or for the environment. Even attempts to dilute the oil with hot water can still result in blocked pipes.

When cooking oil actually makes its way out of the pipes, there is the added risk of it getting into the ground and returning to our water system. Oil accumulation in streams can result in a light film on the water that interferes with the oxygenations necessary for fish and other life living there.

A recent report at CBS KTVT-TV offers these suggestions:

• After it has cooled, filter and freeze used cooking oil and reuse it for another meal.
• Small amounts of cooking oil, such as meat drippings, can be soaked up with a paper towel and thrown into the trash.
• After it has cooled, pour the used cooking oil into a sturdy closed-lid container, like a coffee can, and dispose of it in the trash. Another option is to slowly mix in kitty litter until all the oil is absorbed and can be placed in a garbage bag.

If you live in one of these cities, you can contact them about cooking oil recycling at the numbers below:

• Dallas Water Utilities at (214) 670-6749.
• Denton’s Home Chemical Collection program at (940) 349-8787.
• Fort Worth Environmental Collection Center at 817-871-5257
• Irving program for curbside pickup at 972-721-2232 or 972-721-2772.
• Mansfield Stormwater Mgmt cooking oil dropoff at 817-276-4240.
• Plano Household Hazardous Waste Collection Program at 972-769-4150.

If you live in another city, you can drop off used cooking oil at Biodiesel Industries, Inc. located at the City of Denton Landfill, Spencer at Mayhill Rd, between 7am - 5pm, Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.

For more information, refer to the KTVT article, This Thanksgiving, Please Don’t Feed the Storm Drain.

How do you get rid of tons of animal waste generated on a regular basis? Currently the Dallas Zoo has to pay $55,000 year to dispose of it at a landfill.

However, this Spring, the zoo may get the opportunity to pursue a cleaner, more efficient direction. It is considering a process that converts animal, paper, and yard waste into electric power.

Instead of transporting the waste to a landfill, the waste would be emptied into a gasifier located on the zoo grounds. The gasifier would convert waste into gas and water, and the gas would be used to power an electric generator. Between 4-6 tons of waste can convert into about 50 kilowats of electricity, which is enough to power 3 homes for 7 days a week.

The Zoo could see a 10% reduction in gas and electric bills, and the water by-product from the gasifier process would be used for landscaping. The plant would require $1 million to build.

Many zoos, like those in Denver, St. Louis, Toledo, and Toronto, recycle their materials through composting. The Denver Zoo goes as far as to sell its compost under the product name ‘ZOOP’ which is described as 100% natural, weed free, odor free, and containing no harmful pathogens. Other zoos, like the St. Louis Zoo include cooking oil and batteries among its recycling efforts.

Do you live in Plano and:

• cook often?
• plan to hold an event or festival barbecue that will generate a lot of fat?
• own or work at a restaurant that generates a lot of fat?

Plano has a Household Chemical Collection program that will pick up cooking oil from residents and donate it to Biodiesel industries.

Biodiesel Industries is the first renewable energy-powered plant producing biodiesel fuel in Texas. Last year, 1200 gallons of cooking oil was collected and reused as alternative fuel. The city has a vested interest in this; 59 of the city’s 700-800 municipal vehicles are using hybrid or alternative fuels.

Cooking oil has a negative impact on the environment when it’s simply dumped. If it’s poured down the drain, the oil eventually returns to outside water sources and can reappear in our drinking water. Oil in a container in your trash bin gets crushed in the trash compactor and that oil ends up in a landfill, where it too seeps into the soil and then into water sources.

You can contact the City of Plano’s Environmental Waste Services at 972-769-4150 year-round and they will come and pick it up at your residence or business. Make sure that you place the cooled oil in a rigid plastic container, label it ‘cooking oil’ and secure the container with a screw top lid.

For more information, see Plano Offers Free Collection of Turkey Fryer/Cooking Oil.

• Keep the refrigerator door shut. If the door is open for only 30 seconds, the refrigerator requires about 30 minutes to recover its initial temperature.
• Vacuum the refrigerator coils every three months. This helps the condenser to operate more efficiently. Dusty, dirty coils consume as much as 25 percent more energy.

• Use the proper temperature setting: Set refrigerators at 36-40 degrees, freezers at 0-5 degrees. Being 10 degrees cooler than necessary can increase energy use by 25 percent. (Test refrigerator temperature by putting a thermometer in a glass of water inside for a few hours. In the freezer, put a thermometer between two frozen items.)
• Cool foods to room temperature before storing them in the refrigerator. Place the refrigerator away from the oven, dishwasher, heating vents, and direct sunlight.
• Leave space around the refrigerator. Check the manufacturer’s operating manual for information. (Two inches on all sides is a good rule of thumb.)
• Adjust the front leveling feet so the door closes on its own. Keep the freezer full, even if you have to add cartons of water. The ice holds the cold temperature better and can always be used when extra ice is needed.
• Defrost manual defrost refrigerators and freezers when frost is one-quarter inch thick. Both operate most efficiently when nearly full but not overcrowded.
• Cover liquids when storing them in the refrigerator. That keeps the compressor from working harder to remove extra moisture.
• Wipe all moisture from containers before placing them in the refrigerator.
• Check door gaskets regularly. If a dollar bill slips through the closed door, gaskets aren’t sealing properly.
• Consider replacing older units. Older models (10 years or older) use a great deal of energy.

Get rid of that pre-1994 refrigerator!
(Image taken from Bikes At Work.)

• Set thermometer to 140 degrees Fahrenheit if you have an automatic dishwasher. Otherwise, set at 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Reducing from 140 degrees Fahrenheit to 120 degrees Fahrenheit can save over 18 percent on energy costs. 
• Use the coolest water setting possible for washing clothes and household cleaning.
• Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes.
• Don’t run the water while shaving or washing dishes. 
• Make sure faucets are always turned off completely. 
• Insulate hot water storage tank and piping. Be sure not to block air vents. This can save $8-$20 per year. 
• Repair leaky faucets. One drip per second is the equivalent of 200-240 gallons per month. Most leaks require simply replacing the washer.

• Install aerators and low-flow shower heads. 
• Drain a few gallons of water from the tank every six months. This increases the efficiency and life of the water heater by removing sludge from the tank. 
• Use a water heater timer for electric units.
• Provide annual maintenance, and keep the unit clean. 
• Purchase a new energy-efficient water heater with the proper capacity for your family’s needs.

The Plano council reversed an earlier decision to support a proposal for a Vegas-style fountain at Legacy that would waste over 220,000 gallons of community water.

The fountain drew a lot of criticism from residents who questioned its benefits given that the fountain would cost Plano $1 million and the area has been so heavily affected by drought.  

• Collin County is still at Stage 3 water restrictions.
• Plano residents are still rationed to watering their homes once a week.
• Water tables are so low that water drilling businesses are receiving record requests from housing complexes and businesses to extend pump systems to access deeper private wells.
• Lake levels are so low that it may take several years (provided demand doesn’t increase) to get them back to their original levels. Lake Lavon is 17 feet below its current level, and the County is close to moving to Stage 4.

The council’s rationale was that the fountain would draw business to Legacy. Loosely translated: business for Legacy is more important than water for Plano.

The 120-ft fountain, proposed by Fehmi Karaham in October, was supposed to resemble the fountain design at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The city was going to pay $1 million toward the costs of the fountain, with that amount coming from money left over from last year’s budget. 

However, Plano residents began circulating a petition to collect enough signatures to require a public vote. In response to this opposition, Fehmi Karahan, the Shops at Legacy developer, withdrew his request for public funds.

The Plano City Council, who had voted 6-1 in December to give $1 million in taxpayer money toward the fountain, suddenly did a complete turnaround, and fortunately, voted this time 7-1 against it.