From the environmental protection and creative reuse division of Clunkbucket comes this installment of Tool of the Week. While not at all glamourous, the drip tray and oil change pan are supremely useful – and can in fact help save the planet. Collecting used oil in a container that won’t puke all over the trunk makes it easy to recycle used engine oil. Picking up another drain pan and dedicating it for engine coolant means pouring the poison green stuff right back into the radiator after replacing a stuck thermostat or cracked heater hose. A drip tray is bonus protection against toxic spills or ruined concrete. Bringing used oil back to an official collection and recycling station means knowing it will get cleaned up and put to good use. The titans of global industry will tranform old crud into new Chuck Taylors, Yuri Gagarin Junior Politburo bureaucrat paperweights, or another quality plastic oil change pan!
Now, if only we could figure out a way to have the tank at the local Autozone or CSK joint not be perpetually full. I actually moved across Phoenix with close to 10 gallons of old oil because all four of the joints within half an hour of my previous location were continually full.
I wonder, do the tanks get emptied seasonally, or do I have a bad habit of showing up on the day the regional manager has lectured everyone on not allowing customers in the back solo, and they just don’t care?
Such is life.
I never have that problem, over here we just put the oil in milk jugs and out on the curb on trash day along with the recyclables for pickup.