Spring has sprung, bringing with it beautiful pastel colours, chocolate eggs, adorable chicks and long awaited reunions with family and friends over celebratory Easter dinners. This Easter, Clean Coasts in partnership with Irish Water is partnering with Lilly Higgins to ask the people of Cork to ‘Rethink the Sink’ and never pour fats, oils and greases (FOGs) from the Easter roast down the sink. Instead, collect FOGs into a heat proof container (egg cartons, tins and jars are egg-cellent choices!), allow them to cool and empty into the bin.  

Lilly Higgins along with other celebrity chefs and well known personalities from around Ireland are participating in this years Easter ‘Think Before You Pour’ campaign including Kevin Dundon, Gina Daly, JP McMahon, Edward Hayden, Guy Sinnott and Mark Murphy as well as well-known food blogger, Niamh O’Sullivan. 

‘Think Before You Pour’ is operated by Clean Coasts in partnership with Irish Water and appeals to the public not to pour FOGs down the kitchen sink, as a B&A survey reveals that approximately 4 out of 10 people admit to doing so. 

FOGs may seem like liquid when poured, but they cool and harden as they travel along the pipes and can cause blockages in our homes, businesses, the public sewer network and wastewater treatment plants and can even lead to overflows of sewage in our communities and pollution in rivers, on beaches and in the ocean. When FOGs combine with wipes and other sewage related litter such as hair and dental floss that shouldn’t be flushed down the toilet, fatbergs can form. Irish Water clears hundreds of blockages including fatbergs from the wastewater network every week. 

Irish food writer, blogger and chef Lilly Higgins said:

I’m delighted to be working with Clean Coasts and Irish Water this Easter on the brilliant Think Before You Pour campaign. Fat is an essential part of cooking, drizzling with olive oil, spreading with butter and the amazing flavoursome fat from lamb. This campaign provides valuable information on how to dispose of those residue fats on baking trays and pans so that sinks and waterways stay clean and clear.

Ian Ó Mahony, Regional Operational Manager, South West Region added:

Irish Water is delighted to be teaming up with Clean Coasts and chefs from all around Ireland for the ‘Rethink the Sink’ Easter campaign. Last year we responded to approximately 10,000 customer notified blockages along the wastewater network, which were leading to sewer overflows. Removing fatbergs and blockages from our public sewers and cleaning up sewer overflows is a dirty job with nasty consequences but so easy to prevent. We are reminding the public to ‘Think Before You Pour’ this Easter, not to use the kitchen sink as a bin and to help us safeguard the wastewater network and local environment by collecting cooled fats, oils and greases and disposing of them in their bin.

Speaking about the campaign, Sinead McCoy, Coastal Communities Manager, Clean Coasts said:

The prevention of blockages in our wastewater systems by fats, oils and greases is something everybody can engage in. Simply by being more conscious of our behaviour at the sink, and by making small changes, we can all have a positive impact on our natural environment. I would encourage and remind everyone to ‘Think Before You Pour’ this Easter.

Social media: 

Facebook: @CleanCoasts @IrishWater Twitter: @CleanCoasts @IrishWater Instagram: @cleancoasts 

#cleancoasts #thinkb4upour www.thinkbeforeyoupour.org 

Think Before You Pour animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oixOR6h5EZw  

Think Before You Pour: 

Think Before You Pour is a public awareness campaign highlighting the problems caused by pouring fats, oils and greases (FOGs) down the sink. Consequences include the formation of fatbergs, which are very large masses of solid waste in a sewerage system, consisting especially of congealed fat and personal hygiene products that have been flushed down toilets. This causes blockages in our household plumbing and our wastewater network. The goal of the campaign is to encourage people to always #thinkb4upour. The campaign is operated by Clean Coasts (An Taisce) in partnership with Irish Water. Think Before You Pour is a section of the Think Before You Flush Campaign, which highlights the problems associated with flushing inappropriate items, such as wipes and cotton bud sticks, down the toilet. 

Clean Coasts: 

Clean Coasts is a charity programme, run through the Environmental Education Unit of An Taisce, which engages communities in the protection of Ireland’s beaches, seas and marine life. Clean Coasts works with communities to help protect and care for Ireland’s waterways, coastline, seas, ocean and marine life. Clean Coasts thrives to create tangible and immediate improvements to Ireland’s coastal environment, involving thousands of volunteers removing large quantities of marine litter from our coastline each year. 

Clean Coasts has grown over the years and now includes two main national clean-up drives. Other initiatives include the Green Coast Award, the Love Your Coast Photography competition, the Clean Coasts Roadshows for coastal communities and the Ocean Hero Awards. All these initiatives are aimed at celebrating the beauty of our coast and the efforts of our volunteers across all of Ireland. 

Currently, there are nearly 2000 registered Clean Coasts volunteering groups. There are a variety of group types such as community groups, residents’ associations, tidy towns groups, sports clubs, schools, businesses, universities etc. Clean Coasts organises hundreds of beach clean-ups annually mobilising thousands of volunteers, removing considerable quantities of marine litter from Ireland’s beaches and waterways.  Our volunteering has expanded to also include Corporate Volunteering. 

2021 Think Before You Pour Survey Summary of Results 

In 2021 Irish Water commissioned a survey of the nation’s pouring behaviour. 1,019 adults aged 18+ were surveyed by Behaviour & Attitudes in 2021.  

Every day inappropriate items are poured down the sink in Ireland instead of being put in the bin. This causes blockages in our wastewater systems, ultimately leading to sewer overflows and pollution in rivers, on beaches and in the ocean.   

Close to four in ten adults (38%) admit to pouring items down the sink that are known to cause blockages in our wastewater network and treatment plants.   

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