So that I’m clear, I’m ***not*** thinking about pouring my used motor oil all over the yard. But I ***did*** think about pouring out a small jar of unused olive oil in the dirt. I’m 85 to 90 percent sure I’ve heard that’s a no-no, but I’m wondering why. What exactly happens when oil hits dirt? Shouldn’t the soil bacteria chew it up just like they chew up everything else organic? And would the same thing happen to crude oil?
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You can compost edible fats. You probably don’t want to, because fat attracts pests, but fat in a compost heap will break down without harming the environment.
Don’t pour olive oil down the drain, because it clogs pipes. Don’t put it somewhere it’ll flow away, because it might make roads slippery or float on lakes and hurt fish. Be mindful of where the oil is going to go between when you pour it out and when it finishes breaking down. But edible fats are edible because living things can break them down for energy, so they aren’t going to poison anything.
Hydrocarbon oils like mineral oil and crude oil aren’t digestible by you or by soil bacteria. Crude oil contains benzene, which can give you cancer. Mineral oil isn’t very poisonous, but it doesn’t break down (it’s like a liquid version of milk jug plastic).
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