Hampshire offers recycling of used oil

As you ready your car for another Chicago winter, you might forget one detail -- what to do with the grimy old oil from your oil change.

Auto shops usually recycle oil, which can be re-refined into fresh motor oil, heating fuel or machine lubricant.

But if you change your own oil, there's a good chance that engine-clogging sludge winds up on the ground or in the sewer system.

With that in mind, the village of Hampshire will kick off an oil recycling program Dec. 1.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that more than 180 million gallons of motor oil -- or 16 Exxon Valdez spills -- is improperly disposed of by do-it-yourself mechanics each year. That oil is poured down drains or onto the ground.

From there, it can contaminate ground water, forming a film that slows water treatment and damages equipment.

"We're trying to do our part to go green," said village Trustee Jan Kraus, who organized the program.

"No one wants this stuff seeping into the ground," Kraus said. "We want Hampshire to be a clean place to live."

An added incentive is that the program will have no cost to the village -- RS Used Oil Services, a Monee company, will collect the oil and pay the village for it.

You can recycle your motor oil between 9 a.m. and noon the first Saturday of every month. The program is open to anyone.

Just save the oil in a clean, leak-proof container -- it should not be mixed with any other chemicals -- and bring it to the village maintenance barn at 100 Klick Ave. Call (847)683-2181 for more details.