Video suggestion: Stay clean (and green)

[Jeff Acker]

Hey Eric, I really appreciate your comments in all your videos about how to responsibly dispose of used fluids and various chemical stuff that we deal with when we work on cars. I would love to see a video collecting all of those recommendations in one place and maybe expanding into more detailed suggestions.

For example, I think everybody knows you should recycle your oil, but I wonder about what to do with used brake pads and shoes, old bushings, etc. I have a bunch of rags I use to clean up various parts and I’d like to wash them and reuse them but I don’t know what should be run through the washer. Some of these rags are full of brake dust, penetrating oil, brake cleaner, brake fluid, and other gross stuff. If I run them through the washer, that fluid enters the water system, and I don’t know if that’s OK. Likewise, should I throw away shop towels (the blue paper-towel style) covered in the same stuff? It winds up in the soil eventually.

Maybe I spend too much time worrying about “little” things, but one of the reasons I like maintaining my car is because it can take me to lots of amazing camping and hiking spots where I can appreciate the beauty of nature, and I’d like to arrive at those places knowing I did my part to keep the planet in (reasonably) good shape before I left.

Thanks and keep up the good work.

Topic

[EricTheCarGuy]

This is a great suggestion. I’d like to do some research first as you posed a few questions that I don’t have the answers to. I think I know the right people to ask about this stuff though.

Thanks again.

[Author]

Replies