Spring cleaners asked to leave donations at home for now

Many people are using the downtime during the pandemic, to do some spring cleaning, but trying to get rid of the clutter won't be so easy.

For those who are looking to donate their old clothes and household items you'll have to keep them for a little longer. Charities in Windsor-Essex with donation bins say they won't be able to pick them up until the pandemic is over. Goodwill only allows donations at their stores, but they are all closed right now.

"Unfortunately leaving stuff atthe bins especially in this time when we're kind of shut down has become a little bit of a challenge for us," said Roseanne Winger, general manager for Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Windsor Essex.

The charities do rely on the donations, but right now can't get out to pick up items at the bins. She asks that people not leave items at their back doors either, because they have to pay to have it removed and don't have money for that right now.

"We're hoping that people can hang onto those donations because they are like gold to us," Winger said. "Once everything gets back to whatever the new normal is that we can certainly come out and we will do our best to pick them up with our trucks or once again be able to service our bins on a regular basis."

But some people have already been leaving items in and around bins, even though there is clear messaging to not do so. At one location in Windsor someone even left a toilet by the bin, making the area look like a small dump.

"We're just going to ask people not to do that, to hang on to your items, only put out for the garbage what absolutely needs to be collected. Definitely all that any kind of rotting food or things that just absolutely need to be collected," said Anne Marie Albidone, the manager of environmental services for the City of Windsor.

The city, like most places right now are working with a reduced workforce. So it's unlikely areas like this will be cleaned up anytime soon.

"Unless it's impeding traffic or causing a major hazard some of those things right now are being left until such time as we do have some staffing that might be collected at a time when we're back up to full staffing levels," said Albidone.

Those looking to throw out items instead will have to be careful because there is still a limit of 20 kg or 44 pounds per container.

"We don't want to overtax them because in the event that they start to lose some of their staff due to illnesses from COVIDthen it's going to put a lot of strain on getting just a regular collection done," she said.

The dump in Windsor and Kingsville are closed right now. Bulk item pick up is on hold during the pandemic.

Albidone added sanitation works do have gloves and goggles as part of their uniform and that contractors have made additional PPE available to workers, but she's asking those who are sick to take extra precautions with their trash.

"Any of your recyclable materials that may have come in contact with your mouth like a water bottle or Gatorade bottle of those types of things, for the time that you're sick just go ahead and put those in the garbage just as an added precaution right now to make sure that we're not spreading anything that way," she said.

Right now they want to be extra cautious and saying there's a lot of mixed reviews on how long the virus can stay active on hard surfaces.

Anyone who wants to get rid of items right now, they can do so for a fee with private companies like Waste Connections.

"We'll drop a container at your home. We have various sizes available and when the customer is done we'll pick it up and bring it for disposal," said Steven McArthur, district manager.

He said there doesn't need to be any physical contact between the company and the person who rents the bins. But beware, there are restrictionson what you can toss in their bins.

"The materials we look for are non-hazardous waste items. No tires, no batteries, anything that would not be allowed in the regular garbage collection should not go into the containers."