Question: Now that we are getting new phone books, what shall we do with the old ones?
Answer: You can throw them away with your regular household rubbish, according to the city. They’ll be processed with tons of other trash at Oahu’s HPOWER waste-to-energy plant, which burns certain types of solid waste to generate electricity for the local power grid. Old telephone directories discarded in the gray rubbish carts on the automated refuse routes, or in other buildings’ garbage chutes or dumpsters, won’t end up in the landfill, the city assures.
If you have many copies of old phone books because you run a business or have been holding on to them for years, you may be able to arrange for a bulk pickup. Call the Hawaiian Telcom Yellow Pages at 833-2018 for more information.
In past years there also have been collection bins at malls around the island, but information about that has yet to be updated on the ThinkYellowGoGreen.com website. At press time the information listed was for 2015.
Q: How much parking will be lost on McCully Street if the city moves forward with its bike lane plans?
A: About 15 parking spaces would be removed, according to information presented at a public forum put on by the city’s Department of Transportation Services at Neal Blaisdell Center on Wednesday.
The plan would add two conventional bike lanes to McCully Street, each 5 feet wide, on opposite sides of the street. One would travel mauka and the other makai.
Adding the lanes would create a bicycle route connecting from Waikiki to King Street and the university area, according to the city.
The presentation noted that some legal parking spaces would be removed but also highlighted that illegal parking is a problem on the street. Photographs showed vehicles parked over the curb and halfway on the sidewalk, which would impede passage of pedestrians, strollers and wheelchairs.
Q: How many concealed-carry weapon permits has the Honolulu Police Department issued?
A: “There are no licenses to carry a concealed firearm issued at this time,” said Michelle Yu, a spokeswoman for HPD.
Going Green event
Castle High School hosts the first Going Green community cleanup event of 2016, the latest in a series that spans nearly 12 years and provides Oahu residents the convenience of one-stop, drop-off recycling for many types of items.
The event is scheduled for Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Kaneohe high school, 45-386 Kaneohe Bay Drive.
The events bring together businesses and nonprofit organizations that collect many sorts of recyclable items at a single location, with students and other volunteers greeting donors as they arrive and helping to unload their cars.
Among the items accepted: scrap metal, e-waste, ink cartridges, cellphones, batteries, used cooking oil, eyeglasses and hearing aids, prom dresses, women’s business attire and other clothing in good condition, bicycles, some appliances, propane tanks, fire extinguishers, computers, printers, scanners, televisions and HI-5 beverage containers.
Some items are not accepted, including unwanted medication (prescription or otherwise), tires, paint, microwave ovens, motor oil, hazardous fluid, paper (including cardboard), plastics (other than HI-5), wood and bulky items.
If you have any questions, call Rene Mansho at 291-6151.
Mahalo
What a great gift to the public from the owners of the warehouse on Nimitz Highway west of Waiakamilo. The painting and artwork added to the building complement the landscape frontage of Young Brothers across the street. It adds a touch of class to this industrial area. The route is well traveled by locals and tourists. The stoplight is long, so we now have something creative, interesting and enjoyable to look at while we wait. Mahalo for keeping Hawaii beautiful. — Leonard Leong
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Water- front Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
