Why our sewers are plagued by fatbergs

Don't pour grease and oil down the drain...pretty much ever.

See, sewage is washed down the pipes by the way of water. 

Water takes along with it things that are soluble in water...like salt...food coloring...the eventual product of goldfish 'sent back to the sea'...

...but not things that are NOT soluble in water...like oil...grease...

But it's even worse (as Hank Green tells us in the above video) because of the hydrogen sulfide created by bacteria in human waste. The hydrogen sulfide eventually turns to sulfuric acid which reacts with lime in concrete (which most of our sewers are made of) which eventually crumbles the concrete and releases calcium sulfate. The calcium sulfate then reacts with fatty acids (oils, grease) and turns them into soaps (a la Fight Club).

And whatever non-waste stuff you're flushing down the toilet ('flushable' wipes, tampons, whatever) is just making that stuff stick to the walls even worse.

Sewage stuff is gross, man...gross.

So, don't pour oil and fat down the drain.

Don't flush anything but poop, pee, and toilet paper.

We produce 13 tons of hazardous waste every second

We are horrible to the planet.

And we have to be better.

Otherwise we're going to continue to poison the only environment that we have.

Luckily this Vox video doesn't dwell only on the negative. Instead, they look at what a small startup, Smarter Sorting, is doing to decrease the number of hazardous materials that end up in the waste stream - that aren't incinerated or landfilled.

I'm hopeful that this program expands soon.