I just used dirt as oil dry

On my driveway. I've got a couch getting delivered today and I realized I better cover up the oil spot where my Jeep normally sits. So, I grabbed a shovel, scooped up some dirt from the field next to my house, threw it on top, and ground it in with my shoe.

Now instead of the delivery guy tracking oil into my house, they'll track dirt.

Put some water on it.
Then you can have mud and not to be outdone, the oil will rise to the top to still assure you have oil as well !

I always use dirt as oil dry. As cat litter, too. Diatomaceous earth, to be exact. A prior employer bought floor dry by the train-car-load. The bill of lading claimed it as dirt.

cat litter works great... the clean unused stuff

I used to dump my old oil in my back yard. This was years ago. But now I recycle the bulk of it, use oil dry to clean up any spills and then dump it in a garbage can, which then goes to a land fill and gets put back in the earth.

I use saw dust, when I have it.

I always felt weird doing that stuff. Not that it didn't happen, but I know that stuff can work it's way into the water I drink.

heavy snow is also good at soaking up oil spills.. it pulls the oil up, and when it melts the oil stays on top of it and drains away, never to be seen again.

bravenrace wrote: I used to dump my old oil in my back yard. This was years ago.

Back in the mid-1970's my Dad would tell me go dump the oil in the giant empty field behind his house when showing me how to change the oil in his Super Beetle. Doing stuff like this was normal. Today I would probably serve time if the tree huggers and granola munchers caught me..........

In reply to Pete240Z:

Yeah, I should clarify that while it was actually normal back then, I wouldn't consider it for a second now, and I'm not a radical environmentalist - Just sensible. But seriously, what SHOULD we be doing with spilled oil soaked up by whatever method you choose? I know it's not the same volume as a complete oil change, but putting it in the garbage doesn't seem like the best way to deal with it. I've just never heard of anything better.

Kitty litter, dirt, etc soaked in oil is hazardous waste. We have to collect all of it at my shop and keep it in a 55 gallon drum and then have it hauled off as hazardous waste. Dumping it in the trash is no different than dumping it in the the field behind your house

Tree huggers aren't the only ones who don't appreciate carcinogens in their drinking water.

In reply to Cone_Junky:

Thanks for the information. But that's a business. What can I do with it?

In reply to bravenrace:

Let your cat take a dump in it, then dispose of it as used kitty litter?

So the sand we used in iraq to clean up oil was just adding back to the supply right?

bravenrace wrote: I used to dump my old oil in my back yard. This was years ago. But now I recycle the bulk of it, use oil dry to clean up any spills and then dump it in a garbage can, which then goes to a land fill and gets put back in the earth.

If it makes you feel better landfills today are lined to limit the amount of nastiness that leaks out. The big bad gubbermint is well aware that people throw toxic stuff away and has regulated with that in mind.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landfill_liner

It's far from perfect, but it's better than dumping it in the backyard at least. One drawback is that the trash sealed in these things tends not to biodegrade like it would elsewhere. I guess you can dig down and find newspapers and stuff so well preserved they can still be read.

if you have a gravel driveway, you can use drain oil to make it into a paved driveway over a period of 50 years or so. just don't let anyone see you "paving" your driveway...

In reply to novaderrik:

They still spread oil on the roads here about once per year. How much worse is doing that with waste vs. fresh oil? I realize waste oil has contaminants, but are they the "bad" part, or is it mostly the oil its self?

I've also been known to paint wooden things which are going to be used outside, in the weather and don't need to look great (compost bin materials, fence post bottoms, etc) with "oil based wood preservative" from my drain pan.

Keeps me from having to cut down more trees, It's good for the environment.

Man, some of you guys are so much worse than me that I now feel better. Thank you very much.

Trans_Maro wrote: I've also been known to paint wooden things which are going to be used outside, in the weather and don't need to look great (compost bin materials, fence post bottoms, etc) with "oil based wood preservative" from my drain pan. Keeps me from having to cut down more trees, It's good for the environment.

My dad does that too. He's got 4"x4"s that edge his gravel driveway, and after every oil change he "treats" the wood, then takes what's left to Autozone or who ever else takes oil.