What should and what shouldn’t be left at donation bin sites

A donation bin at the Allandale Recreation Centre in Barrie, Ont.

Some donation bins in Barrie are being treated more like dumping sites than drop-off points, with mattresses, couches, and other oversized items left piled around them. Do you know what should and what shouldn’t be left at donation bins?

Donation bins are located in the Sadlon Arena parking lot, the Allandale Recreation Centre, the City Operations Centre, and the Barrie Wastewater Treatment Facility. However, the arena and rec centre locations are more often overrun with items not acceptable for the bins.

These bins are meant for clothing, shoes, accessories and other small household items that can fit inside the opening of the container. Instead, large furniture and mattresses have been piled up, forcing cleanups and creating disposal costs for local charities.

Acceptable Items

• Men’s, women’s and children’s clothing
• Hats
• Shoes/Boots
• Belts/Ties
• Purses
• Scarves
• Towels
• Blinds/curtains/drapery
• Kitchenware
• Books
• Toys
• Lamps
• Jewelry
• Sporting Goods
• Décor items
• Other small electrical appliances

Unacceptable Items

• Beds
• Couches
• Bookcases
• Chairs
• Other large furniture
• Large electrical appliances
• Construction Materials
• Mattresses
• Paint
• Food
• Wet/Moldy Clothing

Recycling Rewards, which helps manage the donations, reports bulky items simply can’t be handled by its drivers and end up in the landfill at the charity’s expense. Unusable or mouldy goods pose similar challenges.

The City runs two official curbside textile collection weeks each year, in late spring and early fall, where residents can leave bags marked “textiles” at the curb. Proceeds from both the bin program and curbside collection support Cornerstone to Recovery, a non-profit providing addiction recovery and mental health services.

Residents are encouraged to stick to items like gently used clothing, shoes, towels, small appliances, toys and books. Larger items should be directed to re-use programs such as Declutter Diabetes, the Kidney Clothes Donation Program, Value Village, Talize, Salvation Army Thrift Store and local consignment shops.