DATE: Nov. 24, 2009
CONTACT: Mark Shaffer, Director of Communications, (602) 771-2215
ADEQ Urges Proper Disposal of Turkey Grease Through Recycling Rather than Pouring it Down The Drain
PHOENIX – (Nov. 24, 2009) – Don’t listen to any of the traditional gobbledygook when it comes to disposing of turkey grease after your Thanksgiving Day feast.
Pouring the grease down the drain clogs the pipes of many homes along with causing wastewater blockages and overflows in municipalities. There are environmentally conscious alternatives to disposal that not only protect wastewater infrastructure but can also help clean the air.
“Just say no to clogs and yes to turkey grease recycling,” said Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Director Benjamin H. Grumbles. “Thankfully, more households, businesses, and communities are seeing green by keeping fats, waste vegetable oils, and greases out of drains and sewers and converting them into clean-burning biodiesel fuel easily and cheaply.”
Arizona offers several venues for grease collection that will ensure it is used locally for the production of clean burning fuel.
The Town of Gilbert and Az Biodiesel group are partnering to collect the grease through Monday, Dec. 7 at eight Gilbert fire stations located at the following addresses: 215 N. Cooper Road, 2730 E. Williams Field Road, 2855 E. Guadalupe Road, 1011 E. Guadalupe Road, 909 E. Ray Road, 3630 E. Germann Road, 1095 E. Germann Road and 3595 E. Warner Road.
In the Town of Cave Creek, Dynamite Biofuels Co-op is partnering with Big Earl’s Greasy Eats Restaurant, 6135 E. Cave Creek Road, and is offering a bin for grease collection daily from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday during the holiday season.
In Tucson, the Tucson Clean Cities Coalition, Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department and the recycling group Grecycle will be sponsoring a grease disposal drive on Friday, Nov. 27 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at O’Reilly Chevrolet, 6160 E. Broadway; Pima County Industrial Wastewater Control Plant, 5025 W. Ina Road; and the City of Tucson Water Plant #2, 1102 W. Irvington Road.

Have a vision for our clean energy future? Students (grads or undergrad) here is your opportunity to prove it! MIT is holding a clean energy business plan competition with a grand prize of $200,000. This will be a great opportunity to get a tremendous amount of attention on your brilliant ideas! Head over to http://www.mitcep.org/ to find out more.

This is a guest post by longtime AzSustainability fan Tomas Carrillo.

Greetings AZSustainability readers. I’ve been in the trenches for the
last few weeks putting the finishing touches on Arizona’s first ever
TEDxPhoenix event which is scheduled to take place this Friday,
November 6th from 6pm to 9pm at the Mesa Arts Center.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with TEDxPhoenix, it’s been
described as a Cirque du Soleil for the mind. Our inaugural event
will feature six of Arizona’s leading experts brought together to
enlighten, inspire, and entertain via ideas worth spreading. For fans
of the environment and sustainability, we are excited to announce that
Urban Farm founder and sustainability guru, Greg Peterson, will be
speaking at the event.

TEDxPhoenix is also a place where you can meet individuals who are
interested in leveraging ideas, technology, education, and design to
help create a better future for the Phoenix-metro communities and
beyond. For more information about the event, I highly recommend
checking out our TEDxPhoenix
Beginners Guide.

I really hope you will join us this Friday, and here are all the event
details for your viewing pleasure:

• Homepage: www.tedxphoenix.com
• Event Date & Time: Friday, November 6th,
  2009 from 6pm to 9pm
• Location: Mesa Arts Center – Google
  Map
• Tickets: $5 – Get your tickets
  here

Sincerely,
~Tomas

Post Scriptum: TEDxPhoenix is a local and independently organized
event operated under license from TED. TED rocks, if you don’t
believe me, check out one of our favorite videos below:

(*Feed subscribers, please visit the blog post if the video
doesn’t appear.)

Hope to see you this Saturday! Great bands, fabulous local vendors, & what should be gorgeous weather. Keep your dollars in our state while avoiding the carbon footprint of shipping in goods from all over the world/country for nationally owned chains.

Saturday, November 7th
10am-4pm
Duck & Decanter
16th St. & Camelback
Phoenix, AZ 85016