Salvos is not short for Salvage

The RiotAct.com has had a recent story about a Salvos van being seen at a Waste Transfer Station (aka Tip) dumping a heap of unwanted donations. The comments by some rioters said they consider the Salvos should be a salvage operator, rather than a charity shop*. The question is, do we, as dedicated op-shoppers agree with these views? Is this the thin edge of the wedge, and Salvos and other shops be forced to sort through our rubbish. Or is this the line in the sand?

Let's consequences of these options. If charity shops are forced to deal with our rubbish, they will have to either get more volunteers, which is highly unlikely as volunteers are a fickle workforce. Who wants to volunteer to sort through rubbish, when I can volunteer somewhere else, where I will not be faced with dirty underwear, nappies and syringes. If they cannot get volunteers they will be forced to employ more staff, and if they are a shop that subsidises their churches welfare arm, then this will cut into their revenue, when it is increasingly needed.

(*I know they run themselves on a business model, have paid staff, etc, but they are still a charity shop.

**While i stood at the Gungahlin Dump taking this photo, a car drove up, I was shaking my head at this pile of rubbish. The driver got out, and I said that rather than leaving her donation there, she could take it to the nearby Salvos or Vinnies during business hours. She said she was unable to get there, and proceeded to shove her bag of clothes into the top of one of the donation bins.

I guess this sums it up. It can be difficult to get to a store when they are open, so the stores have these bins for out of business hours donations. But if your donation does not fit in the bin, then it will be exposed to the elements, and spread everywhere, and you have just added to the problem of dumping around charity bins.)