Garbage fees jump at N.S. SPCA thrift stores as more donations left outside
Garbage fees are usually $400 per store per month, but official worries that could spike to $1,200 a month
The Nova Scotia SPCA's thrifts stores are paying more in garbage disposal fees because some donations are being left at the establishments after hours.
To help fund their shelters and other programs, the SPCA operates several thrift stores across the province, which are run by volunteers and rely on donations. The largest stores are in Sydney, Dartmouth and New Minas.
Taylor Burke, the SPCA's provincial development officer, said the Sydney location has seen an influx in donors leaving items outside their shop after hours.
The shops only accept donations during hours where they are open. That's in part to prevent items from becoming spoiled while sitting outside. It's also because there are some items they can't accept and sometimes thrift shops just don't have space for more items.
Most months, the thrift stores spend about $400 on garbage disposal, but with recent after-hours dropoffs and donations of unusable items, some of them have seen their garbage disposal fees double. Burke worries they may reach as high as $1,200 a month if things don't improve.
Burke said while this is a concern for all stores, the Sydney store has been hardest hit, despite signs that are posted.
The most recent incident happened Saturday when a donor visited and the volunteers were shorthanded and capacity was reached.
"The staff communicated that they weren't to accept the load and that individual returned after hours and left the load anyway," she said.
A Cape Breton Regional Municipality bylaw officer is now looking into the incident.
Burke said volunteers don't like to turn away donations, but they can't have an unsafe working environment.
"When we're at capacity, that means our garbage is at capacity, our clothing donations are at capacity, there's likely a pile that goes halfway to the ceiling with bags," she said.
Donation advice
Burke said more education is needed about donation policies. She said the SPCA thrift stores don't accept used safety equipment, bedding or child-care items like strollers and car seats.
Burke said anyone wishing to donate a large number of items should call ahead of time to make sure there are volunteers present and able to accept the donations.
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