You may have heard the term "fatberg" before—it shows up a lot in British headlines, since fatbergs grow to the size of a Cloverfield monster over there and take their toll on the country's aging Victorian sewers. But we've got fatbergs right here in New York City, too (they even made a cameo on Younger). And of course we do—you ain't a real city until you've effectively doubled your land mass through literal trash.
In fact, maybe at this point we're all just living on top of a fatberg? Sure looks like it in the latest campaign from the NYC Department of Environmental Protection.
(DEP)
Let's back up: what's a fatberg, exactly? The DEP says, "The word 'fatberg' combines the words 'fat' and 'iceberg' to describe the masses of congealed grease and personal hygiene products that have been found lingering in sewers around the world." The agency then shouted, "They are HUGE, DISGUSTING, DESTRUCTIVE, and COSTLY!" It's true. So the city wants you all to learn a little about how to manage your own garbage before this globulous waste monster hits British-size proportions.
They've set up fatbergfree.nyc to inform people how to stop fatbergs from taking over. It's simple, just put wet wipes in the trash. (Do not flush them! That is just feeding the fatberg!) And for cooking grease, don't pour it down the drain, "Let it cool, then put it in a sealed container and throw it away."
We've reached out to the DEP to find out more about NYC-specific fatbergs, and to request a tour of the gigantic fatberg from their PSAs, and will update with all the disgusting details when we have them.
