Last year between Christmas and New Year both Vinnies and the Goodwill Op Shop closed for a period. The Goodwill Op shop displayed quite prominent signs asking people to refrain from dumping items in front of the store while it was closed. These signs were ignored.
Donations were still left outside the stores and the loading docks. This was annoying for a couple of reasons. Many of the donated items were ransacked and discarded items were left all over the footpath. To make matters worse, many donated items were unusable and should have been disposed of in a council cleanup.
Several people asked ITC what could be done to clean up the mess. ITC put the call out for volunteers to help with a clean up. We cleaned up and donations were left in ITC’s garage until the store reopened.
Goodwill Op Shops Message for Help
The Goodwill Op Shop put out the following message this week:
GRAB A BAG FOR GOODWILL 💝
Are there any kind locals out there who can help us out while we are closed on 23 December up until Monday 7 January?
If you see items left outside our shop could you please kindly take home a bag or two (whatever you are comfortable with) from the pavement and store it for us until we return?
Thoughtless dumping at this time of year is a massive problem! It’s illegal! You can be fined for placing stuff outside a closed shop. Please don’t do it! Whether you place it gently or throw it there, it is both illegal dumping.
Please wait or give it to another charity that is open. We will be putting up huge signs begging people not to leave stuff there, but we are so worried that we will be completely ignored like last Christmas!
Looters from a children’s charity are the lowest of the low! If you need something that badly, just come in and quietly ask, we have lovely staff, we absolutely would have helped you today, without you needing to steal and throw things on the pavement like an ibis bin chicken 🐓
We’ve had a wonderful year 😊 It’s been such a pleasure to serve and work with you to raise funds for Starlight Children’s Foundation and The Royal Farwest. Any help across the break would be sincerely appreciated! 💝💝💝 Kind regards Lisa, Tim, Izabel and Michelle
In the past, ITC has driven past the St Vincent’s Charity Clothing Donation bins at St Michael’s Parish Hall and noticed unusable household items left dumped by the charity bin. ITC wondered why you would dump items when every Lane Cove household is entitled to four free council pick ups a year?
The National Association of Charitable Recycling Organisations (NACRO), the organisation that represents Australia’s charities and op shops is working with the government to create awareness about responsible donations.
NACRO chief executive officer Kerryn Caulfield said this time of year was “heartbreaking” for the volunteers and staff who return after the break to be faced with sorting through “piles of dirty, broken household rubbish dumped amongst the donations”.
“The summer holiday season is a hard time of year for many Australian families struggling with poverty, so donations of good quality goods are needed by the charities to raise funds so they can deliver their services,” Caulfield said.
“But giving unusable or broken goods to a charity bin or op shop is not a donation – it is dumping waste and the cost of disposal of this rubbish takes away funds needed for the charities’ community programs.”
What Should Be Donated?
Giving unusable or broken goods and rubbish to a charity bin or op shop is not a donation – it’s dumping waste on a charity who has to use its funds to pay to dispose of the waste. That’s money that should be used to help others.
Australia’s charity recyclers stand to lose millions of dollars each year disposing of rubbish and unusable ‘donations’. Make your donation count by following these simple tips:
Ask yourself, would you give this item to a friend in need (ie it’s clean, undamaged, good quality);
Donate direct to the op shop during operating hours or call to arrange pick-up for larger items; and
Put rubbish and damaged items in your rubbish bin.
Only Clothes should be placed in Charity Bins located around Lane Cove.
Ways to Reuse, Recycle or get rid of Unwanted goods in Lane Cove
You can book your Lane Cove Council clean up here. At this time of the year they are quite heavily booked. If you live in Lane Cove North and are part of the Willoughby Local Council, the Council offers three scheduled General Household Clean-ups each financial year and one free On-Call Clean-Up Collection per financial year at a time that is convenient. These clean-ups are for bulky items from residential households that can’t be collected through the weekly service. You can arrange your collection here.
Community Recycling Centre
The Community Recycling Centre located at 8 Waltham Street in Artarmon and it is a one-stop shop for safely disposing of problem household wastes such as paint, gas bottles, e-waste or motor oil and more. In other words, problem wastes that can’t be collected via council kerbside waste or recycling collection services all year round. They are closed for public holidays but are otherwise open during the Christmas/New Year Period.
| DAY | OPEN / CLOSE | NOTE |
| Monday 24 December | Open ½ day | Closing at 12noon/midday |
| Tuesday 25 December | CLOSED | |
| Wednesday 26 December | CLOSED | Normal day closed |
| Thursday 27 December | CLOSED | Normal day closed |
| Friday 28 December | CLOSED | Due to Public Holiday 26 December |
| 29, & 30 December | OPEN | Normal hours – 8:00am – 4:00pm |
| Monday 31 December | Open ½ Day | Closing at 12noon/midday |
| Tuesday 1 January | CLOSED | |
| 2 & 3 January | CLOSED | Normal day closed |
| Saturday 26 January | CLOSED | Public Holiday |
| Monday 28 January | CLOSED | Public Holiday |
New Op Shop
The Red Cross will be opening in Lane Cove on Longueville Road in mid January (on the Lane Cove Plaza Side).
Do you have a local issue you would like help with? ITC is here to help just email us at [email protected]
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