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Can people just stay out of the donation bins?

Admiral Beez

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IIRC, something close to a dozen people have died now in clothing donation bins? WTH, can't people just stay out of the bins, or this this just another level of dumpster diving where one assumes anything in the bin is fair game?

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/20...und-unconscious-in-clothing-donation-bin.html
https://globalnews.ca/news/4825560/clothing-donation-bin-death-canada/
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/clothing-donation-bin-death-1.4761498

It's like we've made lobster traps for people all across the nation, with folks compelled to climb in for the bait and get trapped.
 
Get rid of them! People treat donation bins as a garbage dump. I had one near my house. People dumped all sorts of trash, furniture and even stained mattresses there.. It was gross! I was glad when they removed it.

A 32-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene after passersby spotted his legs sticking out of the donation bin.

https://www.therecord.com/news-stor...-death-of-man-found-in-donation-clothing-bin/

Time to BAN The Street Clothing Donation Bins
https://pricetags.ca/2019/01/07/time-to-retire-the-street-clothing-bins/#more-146067
 
I tend to agree. There was a W5/Fifth Estate/Marketplace show on them a while back which exposed many as sweatshop scams. The trouble is that the few good charities that use them get caught up in it. With all of the useless fabrics and junk that get tossed into and around them and the labour to separate it out I can't believe it is really cost effective for the charities in the end. For people that are that motivated - and good on them/us, toting a bag to a bin inside a storefront or some other controlled space, or Value Village or Sally Ann isn't that much of a burden. Some charities will actually come to your door if you call although I don't know the conditions around that.
 
I work for the Salvation Army and spent many years at several thrift stores. Every Monday morning, the bins were a total disaster. The one in front of THQ, where I work now, is always a mess. I am surprised that more people don't get stuck in them.
 
I tend to agree. There was a W5/Fifth Estate/Marketplace show on them a while back which exposed many as sweatshop scams. The trouble is that the few good charities that use them get caught up in it. With all of the useless fabrics and junk that get tossed into and around them and the labour to separate it out I can't believe it is really cost effective for the charities in the end. For people that are that motivated - and good on them/us, toting a bag to a bin inside a storefront or some other controlled space, or Value Village or Sally Ann isn't that much of a burden. Some charities will actually come to your door if you call although I don't know the conditions around that.

My building has a monthly Diabetes Canada pickup, which is convenient and legitimate. I feel much better using that than dumping clothes at a bin -- I've never heard of many of the "charities" whose names are stuck on these bins, and I agree - it's often a scam. Better to shut these down completely.
 
I agree - it's often a scam. Better to shut these down completely.
I don't think it's a scam, in the sense that it's presenting itself as something it's not. When I donate clothes I want them out of my house and if I can help it, keep them out of landfill - that is my sole motivation. If instead of landing on the shelves of some hipster thrift shop, my old clothes get shipped overseas to some sweatshop to be shred into bulk textile materials and then used in the manufacturing of something else, that's fine with me. And we can't be all up in arms about the sweatshop considering that's where the clothing we wear started its journey.
 
I don't think it's a scam, in the sense that it's presenting itself as something it's not. When I donate clothes I want them out of my house and if I can help it, keep them out of landfill - that is my sole motivation. If instead of landing on the shelves of some hipster thrift shop, my old clothes get shipped overseas to some sweatshop to be shred into bulk textile materials and then used in the manufacturing of something else, that's fine with me. And we can't be all up in arms about the sweatshop considering that's where the clothing we wear started its journey.

You may be correct, but in my opinion some of the bins give the impression that they are something they are not. I don't think I've seen a bin that says 'Textile Reclamation Inc.' I have had this on-and-off discussion with my municipality, which advertises that they accept "textiles" for recycling, which they don't; they accept "useable" clothing on behalf of a charity. This is ok, but, to me, 'textiles' is everything from sheets to drapes, useable or not. You can actually buy building insulation made from shredded denim. But I can't recycle my worn out jeans.
 
The best "paper" is made out of cotton, even "used" cotton. Even some banknotes used to be made out of cotton paper.

From link.

...business’s first choice is cotton fiber paper.

American business has always been sensitive to public opinion and customer perception of their identity. The quality of paper used for letterheads and legal documents throughout history has been paper made from cotton fiber… 100% cotton fiber for executive letterheads and legal documents and 25% cotton fiber for corporate letterheads and general business correspondence, presentations, financial statements, etc.

Cotton is more durable than wood pulp papers.

Cotton is one of the strongest and most durable fibers known to man. Papers manufactured of cotton fiber will last longer and hold up better under repeated handling and various environmental conditions than paper made from wood pulp. Generally, given reasonable care, a customer can expect one year of usable life for every 1% of cotton contained in the sheet. Cotton papers are less likely to discolor than papers made from wood pulp and therefore are a perfect choice for any documents that require archiving....
 
Don't forget that the NFL, MLB, and NBA donate the losing teams' championship shirts and hoodies to the Global South (even NCAA does the same to some degree); the NHL and the CFL destroy them (which means that no official Vegas Golden Knights Stanley Cup Champions clothes are worn or displayed despite a large number of them being made and were almost ready to be distributed).

For example, there's a village in Romania where children wear official Buffalo Bills Super Bowl Champions shirts, despite the Bills losing four Super Bowls (and not winning a single one yet).
 

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