Kitsilano has a dumping problem. Alleys are increasingly littered with stuff people don’t want or have incorrectly donated, despite the $2000 dumping fine.
Although it happens outside apartment buildings, the biggest problem areas occur outside thrift stores where folks leave stuff after hours. The SPCA at store near Alma and Broadway is getting the worst of it. The staff regularly find boxfuls of unusable trashed stuff, mattresses, appliances and furniture.
According to Global News, every Monday one full five-tonne truck of unsellable junk has to be move to their Westminster location for disposal. At $300 for the truck’s tank-full of gas, dumpers are hurting the charity far more than they are helping. The City of Vancouver estimates it spends about a million dollars a year cleaning up illegal dump sites.
But it’s not that hard to do it right. So how do you get ridof stuff you can’t use, don’t want or don’t need anymore? The City of Vancouver has a list of what to take to the landfill and what to recycle. They also provide specific instructions on how to recycle everything from appliances to cellphones and motor oil. And if you want to donate to charity, make sure your stuff is in good condition, take it during business hours and do it properly.
Have useful tips on how to dispose of unwanted home items in Kitsilano? Help out by sharing them below.
Want to report illegal dumping in Kitsilano? Here’s how.
Last modified: September 5, 2013
It’s not just apartment buildings, it’s houses too. I just called the City to complain about people dumping broken furniture – the latest being a box-spring mattress – on my property line next to the garbage bins. This irritates me no end. It shows an utter disrespect for our community. People are either too lazy or too cheap to properly dispose of their own items. I’m not about to pay for the disposal of their garbage. So then the City is obliged to pick up these items, monies that could be better spent to make our Vancouver better, but the problem remains and the dumpers get off the hook.