Editor:
The recent death of a 34-year-old trapped in a donation bin in Ambleside Park in West Vancouver, the fifth such death in B.C. since 2015, should provide enough evidence for the removal of these bins. Cities such as Vancouver and Richmond took immediate action, while only a few days ago the Delta School District announced closing of the bins on its sites.
Not only do they risk lives, the bins are an unsightly addition to neighbourhoods. Often, they become a dumping location for those who don’t want to trash various end-of-life household items. The bins at Burnsview Secondary and Real Canadian Superstore are often overflowing with items carelessly discarded.
If the city wants to serve charities and help citizens shed themselves of used household items, a better system needs to be worked out. A semi-annual or quarterly donation drive similar to the Spring Clean-up, or a central repository, could be better options than the easy solution of peppering trash-collecting, life-risking donation bins across the city.
Sanjiv Khangura
