Question: Do they take microwaves at those drive-through recycling events?
Answer: No, microwave ovens are not accepted at the “Going Green” community recycling events regularly held around Oahu. The events collect items that can be used, redeemed or sold by the Hawaii businesses and nonprofit organizations that participate, diverting waste from the landfill.
We’re also commonly asked whether TVs are accepted, and the answer to that is yes, one per carload is allowed.
Other readers have asked when the next “Going Green” event will be held, and whether there will be one soon on Oahu’s west side. The answer is yes on both counts.
The next event is scheduled for this Saturday (March 10) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Waianae High School, 85-251 Farrington Highway.
The volunteers from Waianae High School (students, faculty and staff) who are hosting it will greet people and unload their cars, according to a news release from coordinator Rene Mansho.
Along with the one TV per car, they’ll accept an unlimited amount of e-waste, such as computers, monitors, printers and scanners; all kinds of batteries; used cooking oil; HI-5 beverage containers; used eyeglasses and hearing aids; usable clothing, especially prom dresses, women’s business apparel and accessories; blankets and towels. Unopened, unexpired canned goods and pet food also are welcome.
However, “Going Green” events do not accept tires, paint, metal, motor oil or other hazardous fluids, cardboard, paper, plastics (other than HI-5), wood or bulky items. Microwave ovens fall into that latter category.
After Saturday, the next “Going Green” events are scheduled for March 24 at Saint Louis School in Kaimuki; April 7 at Farrington High School in Kalihi; April 21 at Kapolei High School; and April 28 at Our Savior Lutheran School in Aiea. All events are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Based on the number of questions Kokua Line receives, readers seem to appreciate the drive-through nature of these events, with volunteers unloading the vehicles, and the fact that different types of items can be disposed of at once.
Mansho is always on the lookout for schools, nonprofit groups and other organizations to sponsor a “Going Green” event, which includes providing a large, easily accessible parking lot at which to hold the event and enough volunteers to unload the cars. For more information, email her at renemansho@hawaii.rr.com.
Q: Are headlights required in the H-3 tunnel? I see cars in there without them; seems dangerous.
A: Yes. Vehicles passing through any of Oahu’s highway tunnels must have their headlights on, regardless of the time of day, per Section 15-19.2 of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu.
Outside of tunnels, traversing vehicles must have their headlights on from a half-hour after sunset to a half-hour before sunrise, “and at any other time when there is insufficient light to render clearly discernible persons and vehicles on the highway at a distance of 200 feet ahead,” according to the law.
Mahalo
Mahalo to the wonderful young man who helped my mother when she fell in the parking lot of Windward Mall. She said you had friends waiting for you but you took the time to help her. She was so upset that she didn’t get your name. God bless you. — Missy K.
Mahalo
On Feb. 20, I was at Longs Drugs Hawaii Kai picking up a couple of my prescription medications when I must have dropped my Visa credit card while still in Longs. I would like to give a huge mahalo to the individual who found and returned my credit card to the lost and found. What goes around comes around, I guess. This time it was my day for a good turn. — Leslie
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
