Get Rid of Motor Oil Properly, Seven Gen Student Says

Special to Emmaus Patch by John Bresnan

One gallon of motor oil can contaminate one million gallons of fresh water. One gallon of oil. One million gallons of water. Countless people dead or sick. I think people should properly dispose of motor oil.

Oil is really dangerous for animals. First, even the smallest fire could cause it to detonate, killing many animals and making the fire far worse. Second, it could get into the water, poisoning all of the plants and animals that drink from that stream. And it’s not just animals getting poisoned, it’s people, too.

That’s right, people are getting poisoned by their own pollution. Oil doesn’t evaporate with water, it just gets left behind as a kind of sludge. Imagine if a three-year-old found that sludge! Plus, in its liquid state, one gallon of oil can contaminate 1,000,000 gallons of drinking water. That’s a year’s supply for 50 people!

Every problem has a solution, right? Right, so here’s this problem’s solution. Oil can be recycled. Oil doesn’t run out of power, it just gets dirty. You just have to seal it tightly in a disposable water bottle and give it to your local oil place, they’re sure to take it!

John Bresnan, of Emmaus, is a currently a 4th grade student at Seven Generations Charter School in Emmaus. Bresnan's class has been studying household hazardous waste and the students wrote opinion articles on the topic.