Janet CollinsCharities Used as Dumping Grounds
December 30th 2009 22:19
Illegal Dumping of Rubbish at Charity Bins in Perth in 2005
It is an annual story and not a very good one. Every year in the summer holidays one of our major charities comes out in protest about the rubbish that is dumped outside their stores or at their charity bins. This year is no exception.
Yesterday, Neville Barrett, general manager of the Salvation Army’s Salvos Stores made yet another plea for people to stop dumping rubbish and broken household goods at their centres. The removal of waste from their stores, he says, has cost them $6m this year alone. Many of the other charities face the same problem.
It is often in the summer that people tend to do a spring or summer clean and dispose of a lot of things they don’t want, but that is only part of the problem. There are often loads and bags of general household waste that has been dumped at their doors for disposal.
I heard Mr Barrett speaking on the radio yesterday and he was absolutely horrified at some of the junk and rubbish that confronted staff when they turned up to work in the stores.
There are simple guidelines to the things that should be donated he said and it was really just common sense. If it is a piece of furniture and it is not broken and is suitable to re-sell, then by all means donate it. If it is an electrical appliance in good working order, that would be acceptable too. A mattress needs to be free of stains and in good condition and if clothes are suitable for you to wear but you have either tired of them or outgrown them, by all means donate them.
Barrett also asked that people donate in working hours so the things that are in good condition will not be ruined in the rain or other bad weather conditions. Unacceptable clothes and households goods being left there was only part of the problem, he said. Some of the rubbish dumped at the centres even included left over food scraps from Christmas Day.
It is difficult to understand that in a well developed country such as our own, why pleas have to be continually made to the community to try to stop this unacceptable practice. Charities do an enormous amount of good for people who have struck bad times and the lack of respect for them and those who work in the outlets is startling.
There is absolutely no excuse for anyone to dump household rubbish at these sites and as for other household items, most councils have some pretty good arrangements in place for regular collections. I am often appalled at the state of some of the clothing bins that are around the place too. If they are full, people often just dump clothes on the ground in front of them.
Even if I could believe that sometimes the good intention is there when someone donates a three-legged chair to a charity, I could never believe a bag of household refuse dumped in front of a charity store is intended as any sort of donation.
Perhaps the only way to resolve the problem short of having full-time security staff at the centres, is to install CCTV cameras, but even that is probably an expense most of our charities would struggle to afford.
How can charities rectify this continual problem? I would loved to hear your ideas because someone may just have a brilliant solution.
Sourced: ABC News Radio; www.abc.net.au
Image credit: www.abc.net.au
| 43 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Jason King
Sydney Table
Salty Popcorn
Total Randomness
Local councils should do a Xmas cleanup of every street and allow a better disposal of general waste for the post Xmas junk removal.
Comment by Janet Collins
Acceptable Etiquette
The Social Critic
Janet Collins Blog
Nice of you to drop in.
Janet