Bin Night on Kōwhai Street
Your neighbours are away for a fortnight and have asked you to manage their three wheelie bins at 14 Kōwhai Street. They left a copy of the Te Awa Community Board collection notice on the bench. It says: 'Rubbish (red lid) and recycling (yellow lid) are collected on alternate Fridays. The red-lid bin was last collected on Friday 11 April. Green waste (green lid) is collected every second Wednesday, beginning Wednesday 5 March. Bins must be at the kerb by 7.00 a.m. and taken in by 7.00 p.m. on collection day. If a collection is missed, phone the contractor within 48 hours; they will return within three working days. Collections that fall on a public holiday move to the next day, including Saturday. Anzac Day is Friday 25 April.' It is now the evening of Tuesday 22 April. The neighbours' green-waste bin is full, the red-lid bin is half full and the yellow-lid bin is nearly empty.
1. Which bin or bins should be at the kerb on Saturday 26 April, and by what time? Show how the notice supports your answer.
Read the worked answer
The red-lid bin only, at the kerb by 7.00 a.m. on Saturday 26 April. The notice says red and yellow bins are collected on alternate Fridays and that the red-lid bin was last collected on Friday 11 April. Fourteen days later is Friday 25 April. But 25 April is Anzac Day, a public holiday, and the notice says collections on a public holiday move to the next day, including Saturday - so the red-lid collection moves to Saturday 26 April. The yellow-lid bin is on the other Friday, so it was collected on 18 April and is next due on 2 May. Green waste is every second Wednesday from 5 March: 5 March, 19 March, 2 April, 16 April, 30 April. Wednesday 23 April is not one of those dates, so the green bin is not due. Arriving after 7.00 a.m. risks a missed collection.
2. On Wednesday 23 April you see a neighbour put out a green-lid bin. Explain whether it will be collected, using the notice.
Read the worked answer
No. Green waste is collected every second Wednesday beginning 5 March. Counting forward gives 5 March, 19 March, 2 April, 16 April and 30 April. Wednesday 23 April falls between the 16 April and 30 April collections, so it is an 'off' Wednesday. The public-holiday rule does not help: 23 April is not a public holiday, and the only relevant public holiday is Anzac Day on Friday 25 April. The bin will sit out uncollected. The neighbour should take it back in and put it out again on the evening of Tuesday 29 April or before 7.00 a.m. on Wednesday 30 April.
3. The red-lid bin is still full at 9.00 a.m. on Saturday 26 April. What is the latest date you can report it, and what will happen next?
Read the worked answer
Report it by 9.00 a.m. on Monday 28 April at the latest. The notice says a missed collection must be phoned in within 48 hours of the collection time. The scheduled collection was Saturday 26 April, with bins required out by 7.00 a.m.; by 9.00 a.m. it had clearly been missed. Forty-eight hours from 7.00 a.m. Saturday is 7.00 a.m. Monday; from 9.00 a.m. Saturday it is 9.00 a.m. Monday. To be safe, phone on Saturday morning rather than waiting. The contractor will then return within three working days of the report, so keep the bin accessible until it has been emptied.