Question: Who will come and pick up our HI-5 recyclables for donation? The group that used to pick them up and redeem them doesn’t do it anymore. It’s money down the drain since we don’t redeem the deposits ourselves.
Answer: The United Cerebral Palsy Association of Hawaii and the National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii are two nonprofit organizations that accept redeemable plastic and aluminum HI-5 beverage containers as donations (no glass), and will pick up such donations at your home.
You can schedule a pickup online, at ucpickup.org or kidneyhi.org, respectively, or by calling 254-0114 (UCP) or 593-1515 (Kidney Foundation). The UCP online link should take you directly to the scheduling page. The Kidney Foundation link should take you to the website’s main page, where you should click on the “Kidney Clothes” logo; HI-5 recyclables are collected by the same program that also accepts donations of gently used clothing and household items.
(Meanwhile, we also confirmed with Big Brothers/ Big Sisters Hawaii that it no longer accepts HI-5 containers as donations, the change that prompted your question.)
Hawaii’s regular Going Green drive-through community recycling events also accept plastic and aluminum HI-5 recyclables, although you would have to drop them off, which leads to our next question.
Q: When will they have one of those recycling events in town? I have a carload of stuff but don’t want to drive too far.
A: The next three Going Green events are scheduled in Honolulu, including one Saturday at Kawananakoa Middle School, according to the updated calendar distributed by coordinator Rene Mansho. Here are details:
>> Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon at Kawananakoa Middle School, 49 Funchal St.
>> June 8, 8:30 to 11 a.m. at Lanakila Multi-Purpose Senior Center, 1640 Lanakila Ave.
>> June 15, 9 a.m. to noon at Jefferson Elementary School, 324 Kapahulu Ave.
In each case, enter the event site’s parking lot, where volunteers will help unload cars.
The list of acceptable items is limited; please adhere to it. Otherwise, you risk slowing down the line and being turned away with your car filled with nonrecyclable junk.
Here is what will be accepted at Saturday’s event: e-waste such as computers, monitors, printers, scanners; one TV per car; lead-acid batteries (auto or boat); HI-5 plastic and aluminum beverage containers (no glass); used eyeglasses and hearing aids; gently used clothing, including prom dresses, women’s business apparel and accessories; and used blankets and towels for animal care. The event also is a food drive, so you can bring nonperishable food for Hawaii Foodbank.
Q: So no paper?
A: Correct. Paper, including cardboard, will not be accepted. We have yet to find a replacement for the old Hagadone paper recycling program, where people dropped off old magazines and other glossy paper for recycling. If any reader knows of one, please fill us in.
Auwe
Do not abandon pets! People say they don’t want to kill them by taking them to the Humane Society (where they might be euthanized), so they drop them off with the feral cats and chickens and who knows what else is roaming around Honolulu. That is the same as killing them! They get hit by cars. They starve. They get hurt in fights with other animals. If you are not prepared to take care of a pet for years and years and years, do not welcome one into your family in the first place. Auwe! — Animal lover
Mahalo
Mahalo to the fellow I see so often on Kapahulu Avenue picking up rubbish. He seems to do it during his walk — a little at a time makes a big difference. — Grateful resident
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.
