The old adage ‘one’s trash is another’s treasure’ doesn’t hold up when it comes to charity donation bins in Peterborough as they are being used as dumpsters across the city.
Organizations like the Canadian Diabetes Association and Jake’s House for Children with Autism depend on clothing donations to help deliver its services but it seems some are using these bins not as clothing donation bins but as dumpsters.
Rocky Ridge Drinking Water on Rubidge Street has had a clothing donation bin on its property for more than a decade now. Co-owner David Green says people usually fill it with clothes but lately, there’s been a dumping issue and they are seeing a wide range of items littered on the property.
“The ones that are the most problem I think are the sofas and chairs and mattresses and box springs,” said Green. “Those are the ones that really collect a lot of moisture and they look terrible and they are of no use to anyone.”
Green has installed surveillance cameras that monitor his property and they came in handy last week, after he came to his shop and noticed a large pile of items fit for a landfill left at the bin — he was able to capture the licence plate of the vehicle used and it led police to find the culprit.
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“They followed up over the course of the following week and basically went to the people who had left it and said you are getting a ticket for this but if you clean it up, the ticket will be torn up.”
Green says the Diabetes Association is diligent picking up the donations and cleaning up the mess left behind but claims it costs the organization between $600 and $700 a month to dispose of the other items at the landfill.
The Peterborough ReStore had to do away with its charity clothing bin because of the trash being left behind and building up on its property says the director of development and ReStore operations manager Sara Mountenay.
“I noticed one of the things my staff struggled with the most was spending the first hour, hour-and-half every day, removing the items that had been left over from the night before,” said Mountenay. “Items that might have been acceptable to sell in the store but because they were left out over night, exposed to the elements or vermin, that sort of thing. We are unfortunately not able to sell them in the store.”
The ReStore says dumping is still an issue at the store and they take two bins full a week of junk to the local landfill and that costs them $2,000 a month on average and this is money the charity could be putting to better use.
“When you think about what that money could do towards building an affordable home ownership from some person, it really is taking a lot from our bottom line.”
Mountenay says there might be a misunderstanding when it comes to drop-off policies and so she wants to make it clear.
“Even lovely items left outside over night become garbage in the morning and so we do ask that you do drop off items during store hours.”
Caught littering in Ontario can bring you a fine of $1,000 per item left behind, as those here agree, the charities shouldn’t be left to foot the cleanup bill.
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