Charity thrift stores swamped with 'donated' garbage

Charity-based thrift stores in Manitoba are tired of taking out other people's trash.

It seems people are increasingly dumping their garbage in bins and areas marked for charitable donations and it's costing some stores tens of thousands of dollars to get rid of it.

"In the prime of hunting season, we've had animal carcasses dumped outside of our stores," said Jen Bregman, who heads the Salvation Army's recycling program.

Bregman has also seen stained old couches, broken television sets and microwaves and even kitchen sinks all dumped outside Salvation Army Thrift Stores in Winnipeg every day, often after store hours.

'It's incredibly frustrating'

The extra work to deal with other people's trash is overwhelming her staff and costing the Salvation Army upward of $100,000 a year, she said.

"It's incredibly frustrating and it's difficult, because we want to get the message out there that, 'Of course, we want your donations but at the same time please, please be conscientious of what you're giving us,' " Bregman said Thursday.

Bregman said the organization is trying to curb such illegal dumping by installing security cameras and posting large signs that request donations be made only during store hours. As well, people who bring in TVs must plug them in and prove to staff that they work. Still, Bregman said the volumes of junk continue to rise.

Charity-based second-hand stores outside Winnipeg face similar woes. Marcia Mickey, a manager with Togs N' Treasures in Beausejour, said she is seeing more and more garbage appear at the store's back lane all the time, especially since residents people have to drive nearly 40 kilometres to the nearest landfill.

"The people have no place to dump the stuff that they don't want," Mickey said. "We have to take it all the way to the St. Clements municipal dump, which is about 24 miles away, and then you have to pay for it to put it in there."

More municipal depots proposed

Both Mickey and Bregman said they wantmunicipal officials to set upmore depots where people could leave their old furniture, electronics and hazardous waste.

But Dan McInnis, Winnipeg's manager of solid waste services, said Friday that services are already available to residents who want to unload their old couches, stoves and other largeunwanted items.

"For a lot of these items that I've heard are being dropped off at the Salvation Army and these places, the city will pick it up for free at their home," McInnis said Friday.

"If you've got a couch or a stove, you simply call in and we'll pick it up right at your door. So if the motivationfor putting itat the Salvation Army is simply just to get rid of it, people don't have to go to such a degree to do that."

City has helped others cope with trash

McInnis said he will contact the Salvation Army to discuss ways the city can work with the charity.

"We've never really been contacted by the Salvation Army to see if there's anything we can do to help them, but we'd certainly be glad to sit down with them," he said.

He said the city has helped similar organizations deal with the same problem by offering a 75 per cent discount on disposal fees and reviewing the charities' anti-dumping signage outside their stores.

In the meantime, Bregman said the Salvation Army will step up video surveillance at its stores in the new year adding even more costs in its fight to deal with other people's trash.