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Used oil and tire recycling ambassadors visit Trail

Two B.C. Used Oil Management Association Ambassadors connected with local recycling depots on their journey to spread good practices.
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Recycling ambassadors Carmen Ang and Nadine Hoyt are touring the southern half of the province to raise awareness and encourage proper recycling practices in B.C.

What do you do with your used motor oil? What about anti-freeze? Old used tires?

Although many may know the appropriate methods of disposing these materials, not everyone does.

Without a handle on how to recycle these goods, toxic pollutants can wind up in land, water and air.

Two B.C. Used Oil Management Association Ambassadors connected with local recycling depots on their journey Wednesday to spread good practices.

For the past eight years British Columbia Used Oil Management Association (BCUOMA) in partnership with Tire Stewardship B.C. has sent out ambassadors to travel the province over the summer, to encourage recycling of these materials and to raise awareness of the various recycling programs that are in place.

“We travel B.C. attending community events and touring facilities to see how their recycling programs are going,” said Nadine Hoyt, a University of Victoria student, hired to act as one the ambassadors touring the southern half of the province. “We want to raise awareness and encourage use of the recycling facilities in each community.”

The team stopped into  Warfield’s Fas Gas Plus, among other places, to take a look at how local stewards are managing the recycling side of their operation.

Oil and anti-freeze are collected at gas stations and garages until it can be picked up and shipped to an approved processor to be turned into reusable material.

In addition to the proper handling and recycling of used oil and anti-freeze, the ambassadors are also focusing on encouraging the public to recycle used tires at various tire shops and retailers that are a member of the recycling stewardship program as they travel through the Okanagan, Kootenays, and Vancouver Island.

“One of the key points we try to remind people of is that one drop of oil can contaminate one million drops of water,” said ambassador Carmen Ang, a Simon Fraser University communications major. “It’s important that people return their recycling during regular business hours and in the proper containers to prevent spills and make the materials easier to handle.”

For more information on the BCUOMA and recycling facilities on the web, go to www.usedoilrecycling.com. For more information on recycling used tires go to www.tirestewardshipbc.ca.