Recycling Motor Oil Isn't Just The Law, It's Great If You Like Living On Earth, Too

Being kind to the environment is great, and there are small changes we can all make to better ourselves in this regard. Some take it to the extreme, whether it's flight-free living, dumpster diving to reduce food waste, or living off-grid in your car. This is Jalopnik, not the EPA's personal blog, so we aren't here to push eco-friendly agendas, but if there's one thing you could do for us, and the Earth, we'd ask you to stop dumping used engine oil. Sure, you're a decent human being, so you probably aren't doing it in the first place, but if you are — or if you're just curious about how bad it is for the environment, or how beneficial the recycling process is — then read on.

Let's kick off by throwing some facts and figures your way. A single oil change's worth of used engine oil can contaminate up to one million gallons of fresh water, so emptying your 4Runner's V6 into the lake could easily affect ecosystems and drinking supplies on a serious scale. It's (used engine oil, not your 4Runner) also packed full of heavy metals and harsh chemicals, takes ages to break down naturally, and can poison soil just as easily as it does bodies of water. It's doubtful that any of this is news to you, but what might be surprising is just how beneficial the recycling of used engine oil can be.

Crude oil extraction. It disrupts habitats, ecosystems, pollutes land and water, costs a heap, and contributes heavily to climate change. Mining oil releases methane and other harmful chemicals into the atmosphere, and burning it produces carbon dioxide, so the lifecycle of mining and using oil is far from clean. So it stands to reason that where possible, we should be avoiding or minimizing our reliance on it. Oh, and dumping it illegally just raises your taxes too. After all, who do you think is taking care of the clean-up?

Thankfully, that's exactly what recycling used engine oil looks to do. See, what happens to old engine oil is it simply gets refined back into usable oil, which not only saves energy, but it also sidesteps the need for crude oil extraction. One 4Runner oil change at a time, we're changing the Earth for the better.

If you're still not convinced about doing the right thing, just know that dumping used oil is a punishable offence, which can attract fines of up to $250,000 in certain states, in addition to jail time. Plus, the actual process of how to recycle used engine oil could not be easier – just seal it properly, drain the filter, and drop it off at a local collection point — it's not exactly taxing.