City not responsible for picking up items left on the ground near donation bins

By Jenn Colavincenzo

What do designer jeans, a deflated soccer ball and a pair of knitted mittens have in common?

They’re all items that have been left outside of the Diabetes Canada donation bin at McNabb Arena.

The bin, which advertises the organization’s initiative to send kids to summer camp, is one of many in the city operated and maintained by Diabetes Canada.

But some people are noticing that pickup for these boxes is often irregular, with donations being left outside the boxes because they’re full.

According to Eric Darwin, a Centretown resident who runs a blog called WestSideAction, these items are usually left behind after donations are picked up by the box’s owners.

“It’s more than half the time,” he said, when asked how often he noticed leftover items outside the box being left behind. “It’s a frequent occurrence.”

Darwin has written about the issue before, based on his observations of the bin located outside Tom Brown Arena. He said that on the occasions when he has actually used the box himself, he was surprised with what he saw.

“The box was half-empty, which means it has been recently emptied by the truck, but they didn’t pick up the stuff on the ground,” he said. “It leads me to conclude that it’s going to be garbaged, because they left it outside.”

Steve Ebenhardt, the director of business at Diabetes Canada, said that the company does pick up donations left outside boxes.

“Anything that’s put in the bin or around the bin, we are obligated or responsible for,” he said.

This is in accordance with City By-Law no. 2013-98, which states that: “The area surrounding the donation box must be maintained in accordance with property standards and maintenance regulations.”

According to the bylaw, the area surrounding the box must be kept clear. Debris and garbage surrounding it must be picked up by the box’s owner. The duty of maintaining the box falls upon the owner, not the city.

Ebenhardt said that each box has its own pickup and maintenance schedule based on the volume of donations it has received in the past.

“All bins have their own schedule so (pickup) can be daily — it could be twice a day, it could be once a week, and all bins are scheduled based on the volume that goes on at the bin,” he said.

Ebenhardt said that sometimes, people leave donations outside of boxes even when there’s space inside.

“The bin may not be full, but there may be people who sometimes leave goods around the bin, like they want to make a donation but they don’t put it in the bin,” he said.

He said Diabetes Canada has measures in place to deal with situations like these.

“Certain neighborhoods, certain bins attract donations outside of the box,” he said. “We will go more frequently to deal with that type of thing so that the site is kept clean, even though the volume of the bin doesn’t require that extra visit during the week.”

However, even with these measures in place, Darwin said seeing donations being left outside the box discourages him from donating there.

“It just means that when you have something nice, maybe instead of putting it in the drop box, I’d walk it over to St. Vincent de Paul, which has a slot in the wall,” he said.

For now, he still plans on using the boxes because of their convenience.

“You just grumble, curse, and carry on.”