Local Government Used Oil and HHW programs routinely provide the public and businesses with information about program services, issues or regulations. Research shows that how information is presented can improve its effectiveness. Messages that aim to bring about behavior change such as recycling used oil and filters are more persuasive if they:
- Are geared to the appropriate target audience.
- Are concise and attention grabbing.
- Utilize peer pressure (Everybody’s doing it!).
- Are delivered by a role model or recognized expert.
- Elicit commitment from the audience.
Below is collection of materials in different formats developed by CalRecycle, local jurisdictions, and nonprofit groups using CalRecycle grant funds. The TIF, EPS, and JPG files are designed for professional reproduction (10 X 14.5 inches). The reproducible posters can be customized for your community by a graphic designer. The camera-ready graphics, logos and clip art can be downloaded and pasted into locally-developed materials.
Please note that use of this artwork is subject to copyright guidelines.
CalRecycle-Developed Materials
Graphics (Camera-Ready)
Storm Drain
Target Audience: General public. Prevent oil from entering storm drains.
Race Car
Target Audience: General public. Car racing fans Recycle used oil and filters.
Hazardous Products in the Home
Target Audience: General public. How to safely dispose of hazardous home products.
Locally Developed Materials
Posters / Commitment Letter / Pledge Card and Sticker (Reproducible)
The used oil and filter collection programs in San Jose, Santa Monica, Long Beach, Huntington Park, Compton, Lynwood and Southgate have successfully used the “little girl” outreach materials below to increase used oil and filter recycling in their communities. Latinos surveyed in each of these cities preferred this image focused on child protection over two others emphasizing clean neighborhoods and used oil toxicity. The display of these posters and take-home cards at auto-related businesses combined with their promotion of used oil/filter recycling to their customers increased oil and filter collection from 18 percent to as much as 98 percent depending on the city.
Dump Used Oil and We All Get Soaked (little girl poster)
Target Audience: General public and Spanish-speaking immigrants.
Dump Used Oil and We All Get Soaked in Spanish (little girl poster)
Target Audience: General public and Spanish-speaking immigrants.
The high resolution posters available above are designed for professional reproduction in 10 X 14.5 inch format. These posters and commitment letters can be customized to fit your community needs with County/City name, Certified Collection Center (CCC) locations and/or other used oil and filter recycling information. However, the posters can be viewed and printed from an ordinary personal computer with any picture viewing software.
To save any of the artwork below, right click on the image and from the list select “Save Target As…” and specify the location of the file where you would like to save the file. Once the location is selected, click “Save.” Your saved file can either be reproduced as is or can be exported to Adobe Photoshop or a similar graphic designing tool for customization.
The little girl image above is also available in other formats for grantees to customize with local collection information.
Dump Used Oil and We All Get Soaked (little girl high resolution poster) and Used oil recycling commitment letter
Dump Used Oil And We All Get Soaked (little girl high res poster)
Target Audience: For grantees to customize with local collection information.
Dump Used Oil And We AllSoaked in Spanish (little girl high res poster)
Target Audience: For grantees to customize with local collection information.
Used Oil Recycling Commitment Letter
Target Audience: General public and Spanish-speaking immigrants.
Used Oil Recycling Commitment Letter in Spanish
Target Audience: General public and Spanish-speaking immigrants.
Oil/Filter Recycling Outreach Commitment Letters for Auto-Related Businesses
Long Beach and four other cities significantly increased used oil and filter collection in their communities by building relationships with 221 auto-related businesses. Managers and their employees at these businesses agreed to sign the commitment letter below pledging to promote used oil/filter recycling to their customers. These commitments contributed to an average increase of 38 percent in oil collection and 55 percent in oil filter collection in the five cities.
Certified Collection Center Used Oil Recycling Commitment Letter
Pledge Cards and Stickers
Getting people to publicly commit to oil and filter recycling is a very effective way of convincing them and others to actually recycle their oil and filters. Written commitments are often more effective than verbal commitments. The more public a commitment, the more likely people are to honor it.
The cities of Bellflower, Downey, La Mirada, Torrance, and West Hollywood informed people about used oil and filter recycling at city-sponsored community events and then asked them to sign a giant public pledge form stating their commitment to recycle used oil and filters.
Pledge Sticker
Pledge Card
Sample Materials (Not Reproducible)
Please note: Some of these sample materials may not meet the current minimum requirements for color scheme, proper verbiage, etc., and are meant only to provide ideas, concepts, and information. All premiums and educational materials are subject to audit and must meet CalRecycle’s standards and requirements.
For more information contact: Used Oil & Household Hazardous Waste, UsedOilHHW@calrecycle.ca.gov