Abandoned shopping trolleys sign of ‘entitlement and laziness’, says Pt Chevalier resident

By Finn Blackwell of RNZ

A resident of Pt Chevalier says his street has become a dumping ground for abandoned shopping trolleys.

Andrew McMartin said he had found 17 trolleys abandoned on his street on Monday.

He had counted about 50 on his street alone in the past few months.

“Just my street, and not the other shopping trolleys that I’ve seen abandoned at various places around the point [Chevalier] community.”

“I think it’s just a general sense of entitlement and laziness,” he said.

“This site is literally five minutes' walk from the supermarket, so it’s just entitled people that just can’t be bothered actually carrying their groceries and think they can just walk off down the street with a shopping cart and just leave it there.”

McMartin said he thought overseas alternatives, like a coin-operated trolley system, could be considered here.

“I know that there are some trolleys that automatically lock as well.

“These are measures that might need to be considered, considering how many trolleys, like literally dozens, are just being taken.”

'...there just seems to be people dumping them wherever they want.' Photo / Andrew Warner

A Woolworths NZ spokesperson told RNZ they understood abandoned trolleys could be a nuisance.

“Trolleys are provided for the convenience of our customers and the vast majority do the right thing in returning them,” they said.

“We want to keep our local communities tidy and trolley-free and ensure that we have enough trolleys available in our stores.”

The spokesperson said Woolworths spends over $1.5 million a year on collecting abandoned trolleys, and contractors collect around 80,000 trolleys and return them to the stores every year.

They did not encourage members of the public who came across an abandoned trolley to return it themselves.

Instead, they said to contact the Woolworths customer care team or go in-store to arrange a collection.

McMartin said he’s seen trolleys across the suburb.

“... at bus stops and other locations around the suburb there just seems to be people dumping them wherever they want.

“It’s disappointing obviously to see the kind of sense of entitlement and people thinking that they can just use any street in the suburb as their own dumping ground.”

- RNZ

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