I couldn’t even seem to find five minutes to plan what I was going to declutter today because work was non-stop zoom calls and emails. Then the thunderstorms and rain were so loud this afternoon that I couldn’t hear what anyone on my call was saying. I had to type ‘I am going to close the call’ on my screen in order to communicate with my colleagues, and then move from the conservatory into the dining room for my next call. At least the dining room table was tidy when I needed to use it.

The evening

Whilst I was cooking spaghetti bolognese for dinner this evening, I thought about how annoying the deep fat fryer is just sitting out on the surface. If I could put one thing away in the cupboard it would be that; however, there are two reasons why this isn’t quite as straight forward as it sounds: (1) it’s full of oil from when my husband last cooked something in it, and (2) he likes it out on the counter top. I decided that straight after dinner I would pour the oil into a bottle and dispose of it, and then wash the whole thing in soapy water.

How to dispose of oil

I knew that I wouldn’t be happy unless I got rid of the oil the ‘right’ way, so I googled it. Apparently you can just pour it into a container, preferably non-recyclable, and throw it away with the normal household rubbish, which is what I was going to do anyway.

I didn’t have any non-recyclable large containers so I had to use lots of small plastic bottles with secure lids (why is it that oil never comes in a bottle with a secure lid?). As everyone in the house apart from me drinks water from bottles, it was fairly easy to find empty ones.

It was very satisfying filling up a bowl of soapy water and cleaning the fryer. I also managed to get oil all over the kitchen surfaces so I gave them a good wipe down as well.

Does anyone know of any different ways of disposing cooking oil?

Until tomorrow…

Sandra