These donation bins are easy to spot with their brightly colored exte r iilf&F with the big, bold words "USED CLOTHING DONATION" on every side. But appearances c be deceitling. They are owned by private salvage companies to deceive residents into thinking that their generous clothing donations will stay local or help local charities. In fact, all clothing from these boxes is reitioceiffrom communities, with the businesses that operate them raking in huge sums of money. Accortfmtrin -CSC report in 2012, "A man who owns one of the bin companies said in court that one of his route supervisors made $12,000 a week, while a driver can make $12,000 a month." 

Of the millions of dollars profited by these businesses, only a small percentage of revenue generated from the sale of clothing actually benefits a charity — and very rarely is this charity in the community the products originated.

Unfortunately, this isn't the biggest problem with these donation bins.

Since they are often placed without permission, there are very serious liability issues that most property owners don't even consider. Some of these concerns include liability for the contents of the box, compliance with owner insurance policies, compliance with municipality zoning, and liability for injury involving persons, including children. 

Damage doesn't stop with physical damage. Them's also harmed to the charitable sector's credibility, as these bins have misleading wording and rarely help local groups.

To combat this safety and economic hazard. I'm requesting that your municipality create a bylaw limiting donation bin usage. Many cities and towns throughout Ontario have created such bylaws to combat the tide of for-profit donation bin businesses, and include wording similar to these simple yet effective regulations: 

which I have attached to this letter, will help to ensure the safety of residents/business owners, help to keep donor dollars in your community, and to also end this deceptive business practice.