Motor Oil Down Drain page

[Bosnic]

So I heard some commotion in the parking lot next to my house, and decided to look out the window and see what was going on. There was a car parked with a jack under it with people around it, and someone working under it. There must have been a verbal fight between them, but more importantly when the guy finally came out from under the car, he picked up what I'm almost certain was a bucket of used motor oil, and began dumping it down a nearby storm drain!

I'm not particularly an environmental activist, but I try and do my best. I recycle my plastics, I don't litter, but this just pissed me off. That oil is going to directly pollute nearby soil, groundwater and drinking water.

Yum! Toxic carcinogens!

[Uncephalized]

What an ass. I'm always shocked when I see people doing stuff like that. It would never even occur to me that I could drop my trash on the ground, for instance--but people litter all the time!

[Lynna]

You should have gotten his license plate and reported him.

[billp]

Sorry to spoil the hate-fest, but one person doing that doesn't have any consequences. Motor vehicles are dropping oil all the time and and it is being washed down the drain system every time it rains. Much greater quantities, and little harm done.

In general, motor oil is not very toxic. The black colour sets off a race memory about foetid European middens from before we had sewage systems. They were dangerous and smelt terrible and were a disease reservoir. Motor oil merely resembles the stuff. It's not great for the freshwater fishes, but once the water washes out to sea it is broken up by the corrosive nature of sea water. Not that I tip used oil down the drain myself, but it is not the end of the world. It is basically a type of littering.

[sbhikes]

I would have been upset too. All that guy has to do is go to Jiffy Lube and the oil will be properly handled. Some garages will accept oil you bring in if you really want to change it yourself.

What bugs me are all the bags of dog poop left on the hiking trails. Everybody says they return for it but nobody does. It would be better if the poop was not in a bag and left to decompose naturally. But no, they think they're being all environmentally beneficial by entombing it for eternity in a bag and then forgetting to clean it up.

[billp]

Yes, I've seen that. Crazy! It would be gone in a few days outside and is a natural product in its natural environment, and they actually choose to handle it and bag it - something that will take probably over a year to break down and much longer if it is out of direct sunlight, and probably over a decade if it is accidentally buried. I don't know what the lifetime of a thin plastic bag in the soil is (not long due to roots and worms) but it is still nuts.

[InSearchOfAbs]

I would have been upset too. All that guy has to do is go to Jiffy Lube and the oil will be properly handled. Some garages will accept oil you bring in if you really want to change it yourself.

What bugs me are all the bags of dog poop left on the hiking trails. Everybody says they return for it but nobody does. It would be better if the poop was not in a bag and left to decompose naturally. But no, they think they're being all environmentally beneficial by entombing it for eternity in a bag and then forgetting to clean it up.

TOTALLY!!!!!!! Man that pisses me off. Just leave the crap on the side of the trail for crying out loud.

I also love it when I see bags of poop in the street on top of yard clippings. Really? Yeah, the poo
was natural beFORE you put it in the bag, but not now.

And don't even BEGIN to tell me that your bag is biodegradable. Please. That's like some snot nosed
kid at the park and his mother says "oh he has allergies". Horseshit. The kid is sicker than sick but
you've brought him to the park to infect us all anyway. THANKS.

[DaisyEater]

I would have been upset too. All that guy has to do is go to Jiffy Lube and the oil will be properly handled. Some garages will accept oil you bring in if you really want to change it yourself.

Where I live, you can just leave the jug of oil on the curb with the rest of your trash and recyclables and they'll take it away.

[jammies]

I would have been upset too. All that guy has to do is go to Jiffy Lube and the oil will be properly handled. Some garages will accept oil you bring in if you really want to change it yourself.

What bugs me are all the bags of dog poop left on the hiking trails. Everybody says they return for it but nobody does. It would be better if the poop was not in a bag and left to decompose naturally. But no, they think they're being all environmentally beneficial by entombing it for eternity in a bag and then forgetting to clean it up.

I do this all the time. I don't want to carry the bagged poop on my whole hike so I leave it on the side of the trail. I always pick it up on my return trip. Sometimes I even pick up a few extra.

Dog waste is only sort of natural in these settings. By forcing dogs in to one small area, the amount of dog waste is far too much to just leave it - at least in more urban areas. I can't stand stepping in dog crap and get pretty annoyed when I find dog crap on trails or in my yard.

[DaisyEater]

I do this all the time. I don't want to carry the bagged poop on my whole hike so I leave it on the side of the trail. I always pick it up on my return trip. Sometimes I even pick up a few extra.

Dog waste is only sort of natural in these settings. By forcing dogs in to one small area, the amount of dog waste is far too much to just leave it - at least in more urban areas. I can't stand stepping in dog crap and get pretty annoyed when I find dog crap on trails or in my yard.

It's funny to see this today of all days. I was out hiking this weekend and saw a couple poop baggies on the side of the trail. I actually had never seen baggies left on a trail like that before. A little ways down the trail, we passed a group with their dog coming back. Sure enough, when we headed back, the baggies were gone. Sounds like they had the same idea.