Question: When is the next free shredding? I had my stuff all ready for the one last month and got turned away. Auwe!
Answer: A makeup event is scheduled for Saturday at Leilehua High School, 1515 California Ave. in Wahiawa. Free shredding of personal documents will be offered from 9 a.m. to noon, or until the shredder is full, which may be earlier than noon. There will be a limit of two banker’s boxes or similar-size bags per car, to avoid a repeat of last month’s problem, said Rene Mansho, who organizes the Going Green community recycling events.
These drive-thru, drop-off events don’t include free shredding each time they are held, so there’s pent-up demand. Plus, free shredding events usually limit how much each motorist can drop off, so last month’s offer of unlimited access prompted unusually high traffic.
Mansho apologized to motorists who showed up to find a long line of traffic and a full shredder. You are not the only reader who complained.
“The volume dropped off far exceeded our capacity. … As a result, we had to turn away many disappointed people and we felt so bad,” Mansho said in an email announcing the makeup event. It was “the first time in our 15 years of providing free drop-off recycling services that we had to turn away customers. … We are truly sorry.”
Now that the two-box limit is back in force, Saturday’s event is expected to run more smoothly.
A banker’s box is a standard file-storage box, measuring 12 by 10 by 15 inches. If you bring your documents in a bag rather than a box, it should hold same amount of documents as a banker’s box would.
Like other Going Green events, participants also may drop off e-waste such as computers, monitors, printers, scanners and a limit of one TV per car; batteries; used cooking oil; used eyeglasses and hearing aids; usable clothing, prom dresses, women’s business apparel and accessories; blankets and towels for pets; and canned goods for the Hawaii Food Bank.
HI-5 beverage containers also will be accepted, as a donation; they won’t be redeemed for cash to the person dropping them off.
The following items will not accepted: tires, paint, metal, motor oil, cardboard, paper other than that being shredded, plastics other than HI-5, wood, bulky items, hazardous fluids, toners and ink cartridges.
E kala mai
I wish to apologize to a driver who was trying to park at the Koko Marina Shopping Center in a handicapped stall on the morning of July 20. I had just parked my car in the parking lot facing some restaurants. On the left side of my car, there was a handicapped stall. I always check to see whether I have parked in an aligned way so that I am not too close to either the left or right lines of the stall that my car is in. I had only about two inches from the left line of the stall, and there was lots of space on the right side of my car. I wanted to back up and and reposition my car so that there would be an equal amount of space on the left and on the right sides of my car. I got out of my car and approached the elderly male driver from about 5 feet away. I did not approach his driver’s side window. He was putting his handicapped sign on his rearview mirror. I said that I wanted to move my car so that he would have more space for his car. I may have spoken too softly. I was surprised to see him drive away and try to park in another stall. I hope that he will read this and know that I am apologizing to him for the misunderstanding. I had hoped that he would wait so that I could move my car so that it would be properly aligned in the stall. — Sincerely, a reader
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.
