If you’re a frequent reader of this site, you might be one of those people that nitpicks the environmental impact of most everything - and that’s a good thing. So here’s a new one you may have already thought of: is it an environmental waste that we change our car’s oil every 3,000 miles? Can we go longer than that?

Well, EarthTalk on MSNBC’s green website has an answer for us, and it’s pretty simple. Jiffy Lube wants more of your money, and wants to see you more often. But your car’s manual will probably tell you that you don’t really need to change your oil until you’ve hit 5,000 or 7,000 miles. The writers of EarthTalk tell us this, by quoting another website, effectively making this blog post like twelfth-party information:

According to the automotive website Edmunds.com, the answer depends more on driving patterns than anything else. Those who rarely drive more than 10 miles at a time (which doesn’t get the oil hot enough to boil off moisture condensation) or who start their car frequently when the oil isn’t hot (when most engine wear occurs) should change their oil more often at least twice a year, even if that’s every 1,000 miles, according to Edmunds. But commuters who drive more than 20 miles a day on mostly flat freeway can go as far as their owner’s manual recommends, if not longer, between changes. As a car ages, more frequent changes might be in order, but that’s for a qualified mechanic to decide on a case-by-case basis.

So there we have it…if you’re driving like most of us, where the commute to work is a little bit of a haul, you can hold off on getting your oil changed. That’ll save how much oil you use, obviously, which is a plus seeing as it turns out motor oil doesn’t do so well for the planet. So that brings up another question: regular or synthetic oil?

While neither conventional nor synthetic motor oils are good for the environment if disposed of improperly or spilled, most environmentalists would opt for the latter since it lasts three or more times longer and thus reduces waste (or energy use if recycled).

You can ask for synthetic oil next time you get your oil changed; I’m not sure if it costs any more for that. And, for more info about how to make your driving more eco-friendly, takepart and visit Auto Blog Green.

Now, you may have noticed I write about cars a good amount on this site, which might seem odd as cars are all polluting and whatnot. Well, the thing is this. I don’t have a car anymore - far less use for one in Chicago than there was in southern California. And even though I never actually enjoyed driving (not for the environmental factors, to be honest; I just don’t like driving), writing about cars I suppose lets me vicariously still own a car. Which is nice. So if you’ll be so kind as to indulge me when I write about things like this, I’d much appreciate it. Good? Good. Great!