The Delta School District has taken steps to disable clothing donation bins on all its properties with others in the community looking to follow suit.
Following the death late last month of a 34-year-old man in West Vancouver, who became trapped inside a bin, several municipalities across the Lower Mainland have decided to lock or remove clothing donations bins from their locations.
Delta School District spokesperson Jen Hill said the issue is a matter of safety for students, staff and neighbours, which is a priority for the district.
“Across Delta School District there are donation clothing bins at a number of school locations,” said Hill in a news release. “District staff will be securing the clothing bins shut and will be posting notices that the bins are out of service. The school district is in conversation with the vendor to discuss next steps.”
At least seven people have died in Canadian donation bins since 2015.
Following the Dec. 30 incident in West Vancouver, the District of West Vancouver sealed donation bins in that city and said it was looking at options to make them safer or remove them altogether. The City of Burnaby is asking organizations to remove their clothing donation bins from private property, while the City of Richmond issued a temporary removal order earlier this week to five organizations with bins.
City Manager Sean McGill said Delta is also looking into the issue.
“Since 2017, donation bins have been prohibited from Delta property and Delta rights-of-way,” said McGill. “We are currently working to address the approximately 31 donation bins that exist on private property throughout the community. As a first step, staff have already contacted the owners of these bins requesting voluntary removal.”
McGill said as the city works to achieve voluntary removal of the bins, staff are also proceeding with other measures to ensure donation bins are removed from Delta until a safe alternative can be found.
