REDWOOD NEEDLES

Presented by the Sierra Club Redwood Chapter Newsletter, The REDWOOD NEEDLES

Return to

A sorted affair

By Jane Bogner

How OilWise are you? Take my quiz and pass it on to a friend.

Circle all correct answers:

1. How many Americans change their own oil?

A.10% B. 25% C. 50%

2. What happens to all that dirty oil?

A. It is dumped on the ground

B. It is dumped down the storm drain.

C. It gets recycled

3. What harm can oil from one engine do?

A. Create an oil slick the size of 8 football fields.

B. Contaminate 1 million gallons of water.

4. Where can you recycle used motor oil?

A. At State Certified Used Oil Collection Sites.

B. At your curb.

C. At BOPA (Battery, Oil, latex Paint, Antifreeze) Sites.

5. You pay a deposit on each quart of oil. Can you get it back?

YES or NO

6. Can you recycle used oil filters? YES or NO

7. Does motor oil wear out? YES or NO

8. What happens to the oil that you recycle?

A. It is dumped in the landfill

B. It is sold to fast-food restaurants.

C. It is re-refined into new oil.

9. What is re-refined oil?

A. An expensive motor oil with many additives

B. A cheap substitute for regular motor oil

C. An API (American Petroleum Institute) certified motor oil.

10. How much liquid does it take to make 2.5 quarts of motor oil?

A. 42 gallons of crude oil

B. One gallon of recycled oil

11. Where can I get re-refined oil?

A. WalMart

B. Union 76 Stations

C. Where you get your oil changed

Answers

1. C - Half of all Americans change their oil.

2. All of the above. Large amounts of oil are still being improperly disposed. Each year, Americans illegally dump eleven times more oil than the Valdez spill or 11 million gallons of oil. Oil dumped in a storm drain flows directly into the Bay. Used motor oil collection and recycling has doubled in the last five years.

3. All of the above. One gallon of oil can contaminate a year's supply of fresh water for 50 people.

4. All of the above. Most cities have several State Certified Used Oil Collection Centers. Several cities in Solano County and other North Bay counties provide special containers for curbside motor oil pick up at no charge. Call your city-recycling provider for more information. Year round BOPA drop off sites can be found in several cities. Call 1-800-CLEAN-UP for information.

5. YES - At State Certified Used Oil Collection Centers. They will pay you 16 cents per gallon.

6. YES - Secure used oil filters in plastic bags and take to locations listed on 1-800-CLEAN-UP.

7. NO - Oil does not wear out, it simply becomes dirty as it does its job.

8. C - Once water and contaminants are removed it is returned to a full and useful life as a re-refined base oil.

9. C - API-certified re-refined oil products are subject to the same stringent refining, compounding and performance standards applied to virgin oil products.

10. Both answers are correct.

11. A & B - WalMart usually carries "America's Choice" Brand and will use it for your oil change. Some Union 76 stations are carrying the Firebird brand re-refined oil. Currently, no "quick lube" outlet is using re-refined oil. That will only change when all of us ask them to start using re-refined oil.

VALCORE has several contracts with Solano County and the cities of Vallejo and Benicia to educate the public on recycling motor oil.

For current information and to hear a recycling message from actor Ted Danson, call 1-800-CLEANUP.

Jane Bogner's A Sorted Affair is published every other week in the Times-Herald. For more information and recycling questions, call Genie Kaggerud, VALCORE Recycling Manager at 645-8258 or e-mail at valcore-recycling@juno.com

Return to