EATING IN PUBLIC - HI-5 Recycling Bins: 3/29/09

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Step 4

So far 7 bins have been requested. 4 from individuals with plans of their own and 2 from organizations - 2 / The Arts at Mark's Garage and 1 / Styrophobia. Styrophobia is bringing a bin along as they participate in an Earth Day event on Saturday April 4, 2009 at Kawainui Neighborhood Park, 750 Kaha St. in Kailua from 10am - 3pm.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Step 3

To launch the HI-5 bins officially we are participating in an art exhibition at the Iolani gallery on Windward Community College campus from April 10 to May 8, 2009. (Opening reception on April 17 from 4-7pm). 22 bin kits will be available for pick up there, or you can contact us at [info@nomoola.com]

If you set up a bin or more we would love to hear from you about how it is/they are working (or not working) once you set it/them up. Send us lots of pictures too! We will post the (hopefully) ever-expanding bin chronicle here.

Step 2

In order to creating broader visibility and success for this project, we knew we needed a recognizable sign. So immediately after the polls closed for the November 2008 election, we gathered campaign signs from walls and fences. It didn’t matter what the signs promoted - the same or different candidates, same or different parties, same or different races, same-old, same-old, same-old...

Big thanks to Charlie Cohan. He helped us turn the recycled corrugated plastic boards into HI-5 bin signs. Two layers of ink were printed on the front side. First a semi-transparent white followed by authority-impersonating blue.

Step 1

We have had two HI-5 bins for years. At home and at work. Without permission, of course. Both have been very successful. People put redeemables in and others take them. No maintenance necessary. Total magic.

Somewhere along the way we decided that there needs to be hundreds, thousands, millions, more bins. Hence, this stage of the project. Our goal is to create a system that gets others started – ideally, making their own bins. But, if need be, we are willing to make the bins that others can assemble themselves.

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.