Q. I live in Kane'ohe and have some bulky items I would like to throw out through the city's bulky pickup service. When I called the number I've used for years to find out when to put the items out on the curb, I was referred to a different number and told that my community is now on a regular schedule for bulky-item pickup. What's going on?

A. City recycling coordinator Suzanne Jones said the city last month began offering the monthly regularly scheduled bulky-item pickup in Windward O'ahu, which was the last district on the island to be converted to this schedule.

Jones said the city began offering curbside monthly service in urban Honolulu in 2000. When Mayor Mufi Hannemann took office last year, he made a promise that he would expand this service to the Wai'anae Coast and other parts of O'ahu.

The city completed the last area in July. Jones said the city ran full-page ads in daily and weekly newspapers in June. "We did not mail a flyer out to everyone," she said, since it's not a service that most people need regularly.

And Jones said city employees at the old phone numbers still will direct folks to the new system. If you missed your pickup date for the month, you may transport your items yourself to city convenience centers listed in the phone book.

She offers some other tips for dealing with bulky items: