Q. My household generates more green waste than household waste. The city said it is OK to use the gray refuse carts for excess green waste. But is it OK to use my blue cart for household rubbish? Could I put out the smaller blue cart on regular refuse days and store the green waste in the larger gray cart for the twice-monthly pickups?

A. City recycling coordinator Suzanne Jones said the answer is no, you can't use your blue cart for garbage. Doing so could result in trash contaminating green-waste collections, which are delivered to a composting facility, she said.

The cart color helps collection crews distinguish green waste from rubbish as they serve each neighborhood, Jones said.

"Even when the gray cart is used as a second green-waste cart, it cannot be placed out alone," she said. "It must have the blue cart alongside to signal the operator that this is indeed green waste and not a gray refuse cart inadvertently left at the curb with some trash in it."

Jones said you raise an interesting question for the future because more recycling should result in less rubbish, which could open up opportunities for smaller carts.

Q. I live in Mililani and want to know what happened to the big green bins we once had for our pilot recycling program?

A. City recycling coordinator Jones said the city retrieved those green bins from Mililani homes when the blue bins were delivered.

"These green bins have been integrated into other recycling programs at schools, condos and non-profits, and used as replacement refuse carts," she said.

Q. Does a driver have to stop as soon as a pedestrian enters a crosswalk? I have been doing that and other drivers are honking at me.

A. State transportation officials explain that drivers must stop for pedestrians in a crosswalk when the pedestrian is on your half of the road or if you put the pedestrian in immediate danger. So, go safely if the pedestrian has not reached the midpoint of the road.

If you have a question or a problem and need help getting to the right person, you can reach The Bureaucracy Buster one of three ways.

Write to:
The Bureaucracy Buster
The Honolulu Advertiser
605 Kapi'olani Blvd.
Honolulu, HI 96813

E-mail: buster@honoluluadvertiser.com

Phone: 535-2454 and leave a message. Be sure to give us your name and daytime telephone number in case we need more information.