Used oil from just one oil change can contaminate one million gallons of fresh water. It is estimated that do-it-yourselfers improperly dispose of 200 million gallons of used oil each year. If all the oil from the do-it-yourselfers were recycled, that would be enough oil for more than 50 million cars a year.

If you change your own oil, these tips may come in handy. Recycling used motor oil is easy:

• Use drip pans to catch any fluids.
• Do not dump or spill oil on the ground.
• Put the used oil in a clean plastic container with a tight lid.
• Do not mix the oil with anything else.
• Do not pour oil down storm drains or place in the trash.
• Take the used oil to a service station or an oil collection center for recycling.
• Some big-box, auto-part and tractor supply stores will collect used oil from do-it-yourselfers.

Remember while you may have a local Household Hazardous Waste Collection event available to you, if we reduce the amount of waste materials by only buying what we need or finding a way to recycle them, we’re conserving resources and saving energy.

For more information about disposing of used oil, contact the Solid Waste Management Program at 573-751-5401.

For additional environmentally-friendly tips, please visit Green Tips or Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.