Metro Lex News

The City of Lexington is inviting residents to participate in the fifteenth annual Gobble Grease Toss event, scheduled for Friday, November 29. This initiative encourages locals to recycle used cooking oil from Thanksgiving meals at the Redwood Cooperative School located at 166 Crestwood Drive between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

The event is a collaborative effort involving the City of Lexington, the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (UK CAER), Redwood School, and Kelley Green Biofuel. The aim is to prevent cooking oil from ending up in landfills and raise awareness about the environmental damage caused by improper disposal methods such as pouring it down drains.

Eduardo Santillan-Jimenez, Associate Director of UK CAER and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the UK Department of Chemistry, emphasized the significance of this event: “We at CAER are excited for this opportunity to connect our community to our research. This is a simple yet impactful way to help advance biofuel research and solutions for cleaner, renewable energy.”

Some of the collected oil will be utilized in biofuel research funded by the U.S. Department of Energy at UK CAER. Kelley Green Biofuel will process the remainder into renewable fuel.

Redwood Cooperative School has been co-hosting this event for nine years. Sarah Cummins, Head of Redwood, expressed enthusiasm about their involvement: “Our students are always excited to help with the Gobble Grease Toss... Our students are happy to help everyone be a little greener this holiday season."

The recycling service is available free of charge for Fayette County residents who are asked to bring their cooking oil in disposable or hard-sided containers with lids—bags are not permitted. Volunteers will assist participants by collecting containers directly from their vehicles.

For those unable to attend, proper disposal involves allowing cooking oil to solidify before discarding it in green trash carts rather than pouring it down sinks—a practice that can lead to clogged pipes both at home and within city infrastructure.

Additionally, residents can recycle non-functioning holiday lights instead of discarding them.