FALLBROOK – Now that the Fallbrook Public Utility District’s (FPUD) grease can decorating and classroom education program is so successful, FPUD is getting grant money to expand it.

San Diego County Water Authority, the district’s wholesaler, has awarded $1,500 to FPUD.

"We’ll use the grant money purchase more art supplies so we can reach more classrooms and students," said General Manager Keith Lewinger. "This program has been underway for seven years now and has grown exponentially, so much that it’s time to expand it."

The program, the district’s ‘Grease – in the Can, Not the Drain!’ campaign, is an effort to inform residents that kitchen grease poured down the drain is the number-one cause of Advertisement

[ Christ the King Lutheran Church ] sewer spills in Fallbrook. Oils and fat stick to the sewer pipes and clog passageways, causing back-ups and sewer spills.

FPUD has come up with a clever approach to curtail the problem. Classrooms are visited by FPUD staff who explain the problem, then give the children art supplies, glue and empty coffee cans to decorate.

The newly decorated "grease cans" go home to Fallbrook parents with instructions for collecting grease: Keep the cans on the countertop, line them with a plastic bag, fill them with cooking grease, then toss the bag in the trash when full.

In the seven years since the grease can program began, more than 4,500 grease cans have been created in Fallbrook.