Tipping point: Rubbish mounts up
Pieces of clothing and black sacks covered in maggots litter the concrete outside a second-hand shop in Hamilton.
The Red Cross shop in Enderley has become a dumping ground over the festive period.
The donations started piling up on Christmas Eve, the day after the shop closed.
A week later and the pile has not only become an eyesore – it’s starting to smell.
Fairfield resident Sandra Robinson spent yesterday morning cleaning some of the mess.
She removed a heap of empty cardboard boxes, folded them down and put them in her boot to put out at recycling.
There were also documents with copies of a woman’s passport and flight history over the last five years.
The documents also had the woman’s address and handwritten notes. Robinson found it with a box of books that belonged to the University of Waikato.
‘‘It was a mess, so I thought that even if I just save these guys at Red Cross a half an hour of time by cleaning some of it up, then that will be a big help,’’ she said.
‘‘Some of it I couldn’t bare to touch, there were boxes that were disgusting and mouldy.
‘‘And the smell ... it’s so sad.’’ Yesterday afternoon, locals were rummaging through the bags, collecting the items they wanted and tossing the unwanted pieces to the pavement. And a group of young children were trying on pairs of high heel shoes they found inside one of the bags. Others were seen loading items into the boots of their cars.
The pile was so big, it blocked the footpath.
The store, which sits between a dairy and a bakery, doesn’t open until January 8 and until then, Robinson believes the pile will continue to grow.
‘‘The Salvation Army is metres away and that area is tidy, they’ve got people that come in and check the bins and tidy up but not here,’’ Robinson said.
‘‘Most of the stuff left here people can’t use. Someone has to pay to dump this stuff and now look – there’s flies and maggots everywhere and animal bones. ‘‘It’s a dumping ground.’’ General manager of corporate services at New Zealand Red Cross, Anne Smith, said in an emailed statement, that it would be a shame the donations go to waste.
‘‘Red Cross stores play an important part in supporting our work at home and abroad and they rely on generous donations from the public,’’ Smith said.
‘‘Please do not leave goods outside Red Cross stores, instead wait until your local shop opens and give your donations to our friendly team so they can be processed.’’
‘‘Some of it I couldn’t bare to touch, there were boxes that were disgusting and mouldy’’ Sandra Robinson