A mountain of rubbish that quickly piles up at the back entrance to a not for profit op shop in Dargaville every few weeks is becoming a financial burden for a store that is only trying to give back to the community.

Lion of Judah Church pastor Chris Fulop oversees the store and says the rubbish has to be taken to the dump and that can get, "very expensive". However he says he is not upset at those who have donated the unwanted goods.

"We so appreciate the fact that people bring us donations, so we don't want to growl people for doing this and we don't want to discourage them, we just want to educate them."

Therefore he says they have decided going forward that donations need to be dropped off at the store during its opening hours.

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This way they can quickly go over the items with customers and let them know if the items can or can't be donated and at the same time explain why.

"It also prevents items from getting water damaged, which can make them unsaleable, and it also prevents the more valuable items from being stolen as has happened in the past," Fulop said.

Ultimately though it ensures the store isn't lumped with the costs of disposal and having to take items to the dump.

"We had to get a truck in last time, because the rubbish pile was so big, as you can imagine it was quite expensive."

The store is run by volunteers and profits go back into supporting the local community Fulop said.

"We also have a blessings trolley, which people can just help themselves too and if people need prayer, we have a prayer box for them to put in prayer requests."

Furthermore, store manager Grace Richards says, after the community has sorted through the blessings trolley it then gets sorted and some of the items get sent to the islands to help communities there.

"With the rest of the clothing items being turned into rags, which we sell for a koha, the buttons are also separated and we sell those separately also and some of these are vintage."

Donations or koha towards the removal of rubbish from the store is welcome, just pop in to the store.

Store opening hours:
Wednesday to Friday 9.30am 'till 4pm

Rare Risso's Dolphin washes ashore

A rarely sighted Rissos dolphin was discovered washed ashore on Dargaville's west coast with "unusual injuries"

Whale Rescue.org reported the discovery on its Facebook page stating it had been contacted about the dolphin during a whale rescue workshop it hosted for members of the Dargaville community last weekend.

A dead Rissos dolphin was discovered on the Ripiro coastline recently. Photo / Supplied
A dead Rissos dolphin was discovered on the Ripiro coastline recently. Photo / Supplied

"We were busy conducting a rescue workshop when the local Department of Conservation called and asked for some advice about a recently found dolphin washed ashore. Turns out to be a juvenile Risso's dolphin that had some unexplained wounds that needed further investigation."

According to DoC only 17 Risso's dolphins are recorded to have been found on the New Zealand coast since 1846.

"Risso's dolphins occur worldwide but New Zealand is on the far edge of their range in the Pacific Ocean area where there are estimated to be around 2000 of the dolphins."

The dolphin was taken to the DoC office in Dargaville for further analysis and inspection.

Whale Rescue.org said the injuries on the dolphin may have been as a result of an attack by a cookie cutter shark.

"The source of some of the wounds is unknown but some come from cookie cutter sharks a common pest of whales."

Dargaville Intermediate needs your vote

Dargaville Intermediate School pupils are diverting the Dargaville community's oral care waste from landfill for their chance to win one of two recycled community garden sets.

The national recycling competition run by Colgate and global recycling pioneers TerraCycle runs from August 1 'till November 16 and invites pre-, primary and secondary schools nationwide to collect all brands of oral care waste and send it to TerraCycle, which will give the waste a second life by creating new products.

Recycled community garden sets will be awarded to two schools, with each set including a garden bed, park bench and a bin, plus a $300 gardening voucher to buy seeds and plants.

Besides showing how recycled materials can be used as a sustainable alternative to virgin plastic, Colgate and TerraCycle hope the sets will promote gardening and healthy eating among schools.

Diane Papworth from Dargaville Intermediate School said the competition was a great way for the community to get involved in recycling.

"Our school wants to recycle as much as possible, and so by participating in the Colgate Community Garden Challenge the whole community can get involved in recycling," Papworth said.

"Winning a recycled community garden set would also help us extend our school vegetable garden."

The Dargaville community is encouraged to drop their used oral care products at Dargaville Intermediate School to be recycled, and vote for them every day online at www.terracycle.co.nz/colgategardenvoting.

■ If you have news you would like to share with Northern Advocate readers email editor@northernadvocate.co.nz .