10 years ago Jiffy Lube checked the gear oil in my Avenger (go ahead, flame on) and forgot to replace the check plug. The rest is history.

As for oil disposal, I used to drop mine off at Advance Auto/Autozone for free. I just keep a few windshield washer fluid bottles (1G, very tough plastic) handy for disposal. They'd even take the filters if they were double-wrapped in plastic bags.

I've always installed my oil filter hand-tight plus a quarter turn. For some reason on my old WRX and on both VXs, I can never get it off without a wrench. Why is this? Every other car has been fine. Maybe I've just gotten weaker over the years. Wholly believable, I am getting fatter...