EATING IN PUBLIC - HI-5 Recycling Bins: Hawaii Kai Little League Baseball Tournament

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Hawaii Kai Little League Baseball Tournament - Opening Day

A few months ago Laurie Downing saw one of the HI-5 bins at Koko Head Park. I think this bin was placed there by Tere Castro. Anyway Laurie got the idea to have a bunch of bins ready for the Little League Baseball Competition this year, and for them to stay up permanently. Since Parks+Rec tends to remove our bins, she worked concertedly with them for official approval. They were fairly supportive except they wanted all wire edges protected.

Asking permission is not typical for Eating in Public (we never ask because we don't believe anyone has the authority to grant or deny us) but CHEERS for Laurie. In her own words,

"Opening day went very well. We made an announcement to the whole Hawaii Kai Baseball community about the bins and to please kokua. The bins were VERY well received. Folks were excited. And the bins were being well used. BTW, we went back to duct tape to cover the rough edges. They ended up working better than the clips. Attached are some pics. Carlise (Peter) was there to throw out the first pitch. Hope to work w/ you again and that we are given the opportunity to expand the program after 6 months. Thanks so much for your support. People were blown away w/ the fact that your organization donated all the materials for the bins."

[Actually the donation came from Hawaii People's Fund, where we got the grant.]

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about the Anarchist Recycling System

It all started one day in 2004 when the city dropped off a blue recycling bin at our place. We were so happy. "FINALLY!" we thought. Nerdily we put all our recyclables in and waited for the pick up. We waited, and waited, and waited for two sad years. They never came. Frustrated, we took matters into our own hands. We made a simple wire mesh bin and attached a sign with a tongue-in-cheek anarchist message, "HI-5 / Take, Leave, Whatevas..." We added our redeemables and set it up at our front yard. Viola they were picked up. Soon unknown people dropped off their own redeemables, and these too were picked up without ceremony!!! If it worked so well at our front yard, we thought why not put them everywhere.

The idea caught on very quickly. People invited us to do workshops. We collaborated with community groups. A few people sent money for materials. We even received a small grant from the Hawaii People's Fund. By our unscientific estimate, over 1,000 bins have placed on O'ahu along with a few on Maui.

In 2011 the unexpected happened. The coordinator of Honolulu City and County's Environmental Services (ENV) called us. Instead of freaking out or being defensive she told us she liked the HI-5 bins, the simplicity of its concept, its design, and its community-building potential. To make a long (and painfully bureaucratic) story short ENV officially adopted the HI-5 project in 2013.

Like we did before, ENV will work with anyone, particularly groups, to make and set up bins, providing instructions and all needed supplies. Most miracously ENV kept the language of our [TAKE, LEAVE, WHATEVAS...] signs AND our DIY instructions that explicitly say to [Trust Without Apology]. To prove that they meant it, they do not provide pickups. A major triump over the irrational fear of strangers! Anarchists are everywhere.

So go ahead...
- Request a bin-making kit or a workshop from C+C Environmental Services
- Or better yet, downloadable step-by-step instructions and take matters into your own hands

Lastly, we must acknowledge that recycling, no matter how comprehensive, do nothing in dealing with gluttonous First World consumption patterns and the excessive packaging around all the sad shit we buy. The larger purpose of the HI-5 bin project is to create a consciousness of our interdependency through actual practice and real relationships, not based on abstract notions of groups or communities.