Carmen Hall: People who dump rubbish at charity shops are losers

COMMENT

Anyone that knows me, knows my close affiliation with secondhand shops.

Most of my wardrobe is sourced from these places and I quite enjoy an afternoon fossicking around the bric-a-brac and clothing looking for a bargain. It's therapy for me and recycling is good for the planet.

What is not good for the planet is idiots who set on fire the donations that have been left outside charity shops, and the losers who steal security cameras worth thousands of dollars that could have helped catch the idiots.

Read more: Trash Town: Charity shops deluged by illegal dumping

Another thing that is not good is when, every morning, volunteers who work at these charity shops have to clean up rubbish left by more losers who think it is okay to dump any old broken appliance or threadbare pair of underpants outside the shops - because they can.

As this newspaper reports this week, it is happening all over the region including in Tauranga and Rotorua.

Brookfield Salvation Army op-shop manager Sharlene Farrell says she wouldn't mind if it was homeless people or needy families rifling through their bins.

Read more: Bay of Plenty charity shops inundated with 'low-quality rubbish'

But no, it's more losers. I call them losers because they obviously don't have two brain cells to rub together because who in their right mind would get a kick out of kicking these charity shops in the guts?

Most of the money made by these charity shops filters its way back into the community but too much of it is being filtered into paying to dump rubbish.

Read more: Rubbish dumping an issue for charity shops

Farrell says $5000 of security cameras went down the drain when someone stole them and they have had to come in at stupid hours of the night to put out fires and call the police.

And it's no better in Rotorua.

Read more: Rubbish dumping a frustration for Rotorua charity shops

Louise Parry from the Salvation Army says some of its donated goods are damaged, unsuitable or dangerous and have to be dumped or recycled.

So if you see a loser or idiot dumping rubbish or setting fire to a couch, call the cops.

And, better still, take a photo.