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Charitable giving has become uncharitable dumping

By: Robert Vadas
| Published 08/24/2015

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MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas - One man’s trash isn’t necessarily another man’s treasure, especially when it’s strewn about and left out in the weather. What one thinks might be charitable giving, has become not only an eyesore to the community, but a very expensive problem for local charities to deal with.

You're driving along and see an unmanned donation bin or trailer. You remember that you have a trunk full of stuff that you want to donate. Problem solved! You deposit the convenient trailer or donation bin. If the trailer is locked or the donation bin is full, you just pile it on top of all the other discards that have been left there.

Leaving your “donation” at an unmanned donation site is actually doing more harm than good. Many trailers and bins are located on a property that does not belong to the charity. The charity receives special permission to park their collection receptacle there, and is responsible for the cleanliness of the trailer or bin, and the surrounding area, or they could be asked to leave. National charities estimate that it costs an average of $1,000 a month in loss of revenue if they have to remove a donation trailer/bin from a location...a total of $12,000 annually. This directly impacts the money they allocate for their charitable efforts.

Unfortunately the charity worker or volunteer is responsible for detrashing the site when the community resorts to using the location as a dumping site.

“In my opinion, they do it out of laziness, ignorance, and a lack of respect,” said Arden McLaren, who works at a donation trailer in Montgomery County, but asked that the organization not be mentioned.

Either the worker or volunteer has to haul the items to a dump site, or make arrangements to have it collected, costing the organization valuable man-hours and dump fees.

“Our company hires a two-person crew to pick up the items. The crew travels all the way from Spring Branch and they service 31 of our trailers in 3 counties,” said MacLaren. “Each trip they make costs our company $500 - $1,000.”

This one charity alone, is out $31,000 annually, almost triple the national average!

Old mattresses, broken furniture, paint cans, and trashed TVs, are junk that no one can use. At McLaren’s donation trailer were two sets of stained mattresses that were soaked from a recent rain storm, and a big screen television that was dumped four days prior without a power cord, and it had been sitting out in the rain.

“We couldn’t sell this television set in this condition,” said McLaren.

Nor could the charity sell used mattresses, pillows, and bedding, for health purposes. In the state of Texas, the law requires resellers to clean these items before reselling them, and most charities do not have the means or the money to do so, therefore they are not accepted at attended donation sites.

Dumping paint cans and items which contain toxic chemicals can result in ground contamination. The Texas Commission on Environmental Protection issues guidelines for the proper disposal of the following items…

Corrosive cleaners (such as drain cleaner and lye-based oven cleaner)
Fluorescent light bulbs (including CFLs)
Fuels (gasoline, propane, diesel)
Paints (oil-based or some anti-mildew latex)
Pesticides
Pool chlorine and acid
Wood stains or varnishes
Half-used containers of any of the above are not suitable donation items either. For information on how to properly dispose of them view Household Hazardous Waste: A Guide for Texans.

According to the Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 365: Texas Litter Abatement Act, it’s illegal to dump any of the above at a charity donation site. Depending on the volume of the trash, the dumping of these materials is a Class C, B, or A Misdemeanor, and can be a State Jail Felony if in large volume. Punishment is raised to next highest category for second or subsequent conviction, and a vehicle used to commit the offense can be forfeited on a third conviction, if it is a class A misdemeanor. (See related link.)

There are also fines for littering...Litter weighing five pounds or less is a Class C misdemeanor, punishable by a fine up to $500. If between five and 500 pounds, Class B misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $500, imprisonment up to 30 days, or both. If between 500 and 1,000 pounds or for a commercial purpose, Class A misdemeanor punishable by a fine up to $4,000, imprisonment up to one year, or both. State jail felony if the litter to which the offense applies: (1) weighs 1,000 pounds or more; (2) disposed of for a commercial purpose and weighs 200 pounds or more; or (3) contained in a closed barrel or drum. Punishable by imprisonment up to two years and a fine up to $10,000.

If you haven’t been ticketed for dumping at a charity donation site, it’s because you just haven’t been caught. It’s best to drop off the items when there is an attendant at the site who can inform you about what is acceptable and what isn’t. When in doubt, put at the curb and notify your trash service that you have a heavy trash pickup.

#DontMessWithTexas

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