'Morons': Picture sparks anger at 'thoughtless and selfish' act by residents
Photos of old furniture and discarded home good dumped near charity bins have sparked anger, following a local government’s decision earlier this year to remove all charity bins to prevent the habit.
In April, The ACT Government removed all charity bins on public property in Canberra, a decision which was supported by charity bin operators, however, discarded goods continued to be dumped on public property.
“The ACT Government, with the support of charity bin operators, has made the decision to immediately revoke the licences of all charity bins located on public land throughout Canberra,” Minister for City Services Chris Steel said back in April.
“This decision has been made due to the growing challenges faced by charity operators in managing illegal dumping around the diminishing number of clothing bins around the city.”
The move was also done to combat the spread of coronavirus.
On Wednesday, member for Ginninderra, Tara Cheyne, shared images of two different locations where unwanted furniture and clothes were left.
“Despite a range of measures to address the problem, including CCTV and improved compliance, some Canberrans were still continuing to dump goods next to bins, leaving our city untidy,” Ms Cheyne wrote on Facebook.
“High quality items, including clothing, books and homewares, can still be accepted by charities with shop fronts currently accepting goods.”
Ms Cheyne added there are still some charity bins around Canberra on private property and linked to the ACT Government’s ‘Recyclopedia’.
“Its always the lazy few who ruin it for everyone else..typical,” someone said in response to the photos, while another person simply said: “Mongrel dumpers”.
While others suggested solutions for people instead of leaving unwanted items on the side of the road, like local Facebook groups.
“Someone always comes and picks up items, better than dumping,” one person said.
“Minimal effort and saves scenes like this.”
In response to the frustration, Ms Cheyne said Wednesday she was reminding people about the issue after receiving “a lot of questions recently about where the charity bins have gone.”
The ACT Government encouraged Canberrans to immediately stop disposing of goods where the bins were previously located back in April when the government announced their decision.
“High quality items, including clothing, books and homewares, can still be accepted by charities with shop fronts currently accepting goods,” a press release said.
“The community is also encouraged to donate through GIVIT who are able to facilitate online matching of donations with registered charities and community organisations for those in need.”
The decision to remove charity bins was due to the coronavirus pandemic and the “ongoing” issue of illegal dumping around charity bins.
The ACT Government’s Recyclopedia instead encouraged people to hold on to their unwanted items in storage amid the pandemic.
“The ACT Government will continue to work closely with the charity sector post COVID-19 to identify alternative collection point options in the future,” the website says.
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