Dumping rubbish

outside charity shops is illegal...but people do it anyway. We all know what happens. Boxes filled with broken toys, dog-eared paperbacks, stained clothes, chipped crockery and much more appears as if by magic overnight. In the morning the charity has to deal with all this. It has to take in things that have been ruined by soaking rain or further damaged by being kicked along the street. It all has to be sorted and the things that are completely useless need to be collected by the council rubbish vehicles. 

There are people who dump their rubbish in at such places deliberately. There are others who believe that "oh it might be good enough for someone" and many other thoughts in between. I have seen all this, heard all this and more at one of our local charity shops. That they have a team of volunteers working during the day who are willing to take things which can be sold makes no difference. People will still dump rubbish. Making the charities responsible for it has been the "easy" way to deal with the problem. It costs charities in this state many thousands of dollars every year.

We took a lot to this shop in the process of clearing the house and moving me into this much smaller place. Right through the process I tried to make sure that everything was clean and of a standard that someone else might actually want it. I did not try to pass on anything I thought they could not sell. There were several items I was unsure about so I asked. One thing was turned down but the manager said cheerfully to me, "I know who will take it." She actually called them and someone came to pick it up.

"You give us such nice things," I was told as I handed over the shirts the Senior Cat had worn. They had been washed and ironed and were on cheap dry-cleaning hangers. A friend had done this for me when I told her where they would go. It was one of those simple gestures which can mean so much.

But today there were reports of a neighbouring council which was going to prosecute the workers in a charity shop for clearing up the rubbish left around their premises. Yes, that is correct. They were going to prosecute the workers, the volunteers, in the charity shop for clearing up the rubbish. The council argument was, "Once you touch it then it becomes yours." This was how they had decided to interpret the law. 

It took the state newspaper to make the matter public and make the council see sense. Here were people doing the responsible thing at their own expense. They were clearing away rubbish other people had dumped and paying council rates to have it collected and they were going to be prosecuted for doing this?

The council has apparently "seen sense" and will not be prosecuting those who were attempting to make sure the footpath was clear but it all makes no sense to me. People need to be much better educated about what can go up for a sale. They need to ask, "If I need an item like this and I have a limited income would I buy this one? Is it good enough for that?" Perhaps it is time to teach that in school. It might be of more use than some of the politically correct matters which ar taught.

Dumping rubbish at charities is illegal.Dumping rubbish on charities should be illegal too.