On 5/3/2016 7:17 AM, HerHusband wrote:
In my town we have curbside recycling of motor oil and batteries.

Yep, we can set out motor oil in milk jugs and batteries on top of the bin
here too. We never have gallon milk jugs and I don't want to risk one
leaking all over the place by accident or vandalism.

We used to have two pickups a week. Curbside recycling (presort
the materials). You could even set out an old piece of furniture
(they'd notice it and send someone around to pick it up).

Then, they started getting squirrely. I set some motor oil out in
a Clorox bleach container -- clearly marked "motor oil" (my thinking
being that the bleach container was far more robust than the flimsy
plastic 1G milk jugs). They refused to take it -- until I poured it
into a milk jug, the next week.

Of course, *they* simply pour it into the truck and leave the soiled
bottle for you! :-/

Another time, I broke down some cardboard boxes and stacked them neatly.
Guy got out of the truck to write (in magic marker) that I needed
to cut them down to a specific size (just a tiny bit smaller than
they were, in their natural form).

(sigh) Fine. I can play by those rules.

I usually have other chemicals that need to be recycled as well (coolant,
brake fluid, old paints, etc.), so I just take it all to the recycler
myself. One or two trips a year is easy enough.

For us, it's a block out of our way. Biggest issue is remembering
which weekend (first of month) you need to target.

I frequently have batteries out of UPS's that can get recycled, there.
Costco used to take them (we're there every week) but has become a bit
more finicky. "Fine. I can play by those rules." And, the dregs of
the roof paint each year in a 5G pail (they claim I can just toss this
in the trash but I suspect not; why accept other paints and claim roof
paint is "safe"??)