Over the Christmas holidays a lawnmower, washing machine, baby carrier and ironing board all found their way to one clothing collection bin in St Kilda. Many clothes and other items were dumped outside stores in Dunedin.
But not all had those issues.
Restore manager Sarah Macandrew said their store differed to many in Dunedin and further afield as it did not take everything a person may want to give.
"On average we probably get about 80% completely saleable stuff and 20% that we have to discard or put out for free or send to recycling," she said.
"We have a lot of signage right at the point of when people come in to donate. If we can we’ll check donations before they’re brought in and we will refuse stuff if it’s unsaleable."
Others though are not as successful.
Hato Hone St John national retail manager Emma Stokes said in a statement it was grateful for the incredible generosity of Otago and Southland communities.
"From time to time, we do receive items that can’t be sold, and we’d love to keep as much as possible out of landfill. We encourage anyone who is thinking about donating, to please have a quick chat with our friendly retail team first, visit the store, give us a call, or send an email. They’ll help make sure your items are suitable for donating and ready to find a new home," she said.
The Salvation Army family store national director spokesman Gareth Marshall said it was aware of a large number of items being left outside the Dunedin family store.
It was grateful for the donations, but encouraged people to drop items inside the store during opening hours or call to arrange a free collection.
"We will pick up any items, no matter how small. This way, your gift can truly make a difference. Our staff work hard to keep the store welcoming and safe. By donating during opening hours or booking a collection, you’re ensuring your generosity goes straight to helping those in need," he said.
Ms Macandrew said if somebody donated a bunch of goods and some of them were unsaleable they might not accept those items.
Other organisations did not seem to have that option, and accepted everything, she said.
"I think the only way to get stuff in your store is for people to come in and give it. We send a van out a few times a week but, again, it’s the same. We try to ascertain before we go out and tell them that if things are unsaleable, dirty, damaged, you know, sub-par, then we can’t collect it."
"We have quite a lot of cameras and we have live surveillance all the time which people can see in the store that everything is monitored.
"And we don’t get a lot of dumped stuff, which is incredible really. A lot of our counterparts do, but I think it’s a little bit of education and plenty of cameras often deter people from doing that."
Five active cameras impacted behaviour.
It was important to be upfront, she said.
"We’re a not-for-profit organisation, we’re helping Habitat for Humanity, so if you’re going to bring stuff to us, just make sure we can move it on to make money."
"We’re not being draconian. We’re just trying to educate as we go."
She said for many people it was simply too easy to get rid of unwanted goods by dumping them in the middle of the night outside bins and stores.
Charging to dump many items at the landfill helped no-one, she said.
"So the incentive is for people to go, we can’t deal with this. We’ll just drop it outside op shops or at clothes collection points."
