Dear Recycle Lady,
My husband is getting ready to change the oil in our cars. Is there somewhere locally that accepts used motor oil? Concerned for the Environment
Dear Concerned for the Environment,
Yes, fortunately, there is a local collection station. In our area, used oil can be taken to the Advance Auto Parts store in Fairlea (304-645-5088), located at 469 Greenbrier Valley Mall (U.S. Route 219 South).
Motor oil never wears out; it just gets dirty, so it can be recycled, refined, and used again. A single quart of motor oil, if disposed of improperly, can contaminate up to one million gallons of fresh water.
Please encourage your husband to take the used motor oil to Advance Auto Parts – there is no charge for this disposal service. Thanks for writing.
Dear Recycle Lady,
I would like to know if strands of barbed wire (metal) are recyclable at Ronceverte? Hopeful Recycler
Dear Hopeful Recycler,
The photo of your strands of barbed wire wrapped in circles and wired together was very helpful. It showed that the barbed wire strands were contained, thus making them recyclable at the Recycling Center in Ronceverte. If they were just long strands of barbed wire, they would not be recyclable as they would get tangled up in the equipment used during the recycling process.
When you bring your circles of barbed wire to the Recycling Center, go to the aluminum can door and press the button. Someone will come to get them from you.
Dear Recycle Lady,
With all the rain we have been having, sometimes my morning newspaper gets sopping wet. Is it still recyclable? A Reader
Dear Reader,
Yes, wet newspapers can be recycled, if they are dried out first; just be sure the newspapers are clean. Toss any food-soiled newspaper in the trash or remove all soiled portions before recycling. Water is not a contaminant in the recycling process of paper, but food, and especially oil, are. When recycled newspapers are mixed with water and turned into a slurry, as everyone knows, water and oil don’t mix.
Incidentally, the plastic sleeve your newspaper sometimes comes in is now recyclable in bins at both Kroger’s and Walmart.
Good News: A portable desalination unit weighing less than 20 pounds has been developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that can “remove particles and salts from the ocean to generate drinking water.”
For coastal communities grappling with water scarcity, this innovation isn’t just groundbreaking; it is potentially life-changing, especially since 97% of all water on Earth is saltwater! The remaining 3% is distributed among glaciers, ice, underground reservoirs, rivers, and lakes. Fto.com
Have questions about recycling or interesting information about recycling? Send questions or requests to Recyclelady7@gmail.com. Dear Recycle Lady is sponsored jointly by the Greenbrier Recycling Center and Greenworks Recycling.
