Before pouring those fatty deposits or grease drippings down your household drains this holiday season, consider this: Saving it will reduce the impact on the town's water supply and could someday reduce energy costs.

As part of a pilot program aimed at reducing sewer blockages and overflows and accidental spills, the Town of Cary is encouraging residents to save their cooking oils, fats and grease in sealable containers. The two-month pilot program, which ends Jan. 30, is designed to promote recycling oils and grease into bio-fuels.

“Once again, Cary is raising the bar for implementing innovative solutions to help protect our finite natural resources,” said Donald Smith, a utility pretreatment technician with the town. “The town is giving its citizens an opportunity to utilize their waste cooking oil for a beneficial reuse, specifically with the manufacturing of bio-fuels.”

Smith said the program also aims to discourage the improper and illegal disposal of fats, oils and grease. According to the town, such refuse contributed to 16 sewer overflows in 2006 and six overflows in 2007. Those overflows led to a total of 17,458 gallons of untreated wastewater being discharged into the sewer or storm water systems.

“All of this is ultimately for the reduction of sewer overflows,” Smith said of the program. “But it also gives citizens another option for disposal other than putting it in the trash.”

Smith said the town hopes enough people will participate in the pilot program to help reach an established goal of 200 gallons of waste cooking oils. He said the holiday season seemed like the best time for a test run.

“Knowing that many people tend to use more cooking oils around Thanksgiving and Christmas, this was a good time to gauge the capacity that we could expect if the program is implemented year-round,” he said. Cary residents who want to participate should follow these steps:

*Place waste cooking oils or grease in a sealable container that previously contained a food product.

*Label the container “Waste Cooking Oil,” and secure the cap.

*Call the Public Works & Utilities Customer Service at 469-4090 to schedule a pickup. (There is a minimum pickup of one-half gallon of oils or grease.)

*Place waste cooking oil at the curb by 7 a.m. on the day of your scheduled collection.

The oil will then be transported to the town of Cary’s Public Works and Utilities Operation Center for pick up by a local commercial bio-diesel producer. The sealable containers will be recycled wherever possible.

Currently, the town collects motor oils at the curb and recycles it. For more information, visit townofcary.org/grease.