Not wanted: Torn clothes, broken furniture adding to 'overwhelming' piles at Whitehorse free store

Like dust bunnies building up in your home's darker corners, Whitehorse's unwanted goods are steadily forming unwieldy piles that demand attention.

Piles of old clothes, appliances and toys are growing at the Salvation Army thrift store, and piles more at Raven Recycling's free store. People donate goods that they don't want to take to the landfill.

"It's starting to get a little bit overwhelming," said Danny Lewis, Raven's education co-ordinator. "The volume has just increased exponentially."

Some days, the donations at Raven's free store are piled so high, there isn't room to add any more. Often, goods go straight to the landfill, "because we just can't process it," Lewis said.

"Yukoners are so eager to recycle here — which I think is a wonderful thing — but we just don't have the infrastructure yet in place," he said.   

Lewis says Raven's free store saw a jump in donations after the city of Whitehorse closed a similar "reuse store" at the landfill last spring. The closure was prompted by a syringe found in a pile of old clothes.

What's more, the Salvation Army thrift store stopped accepting donations a few weeks ago, in order to deal with a backlog.

All the goods that might otherwise have gone to those two places are likely now going to Raven.

"We're actually literally cleaning out the free store every day, as frequently as possible, just to keep up," Lewis said.

Lewis says most donations are clothing. A lot of those articles are baled up and shipped out to be sold overseas, or turned into insulation.

Toys and books also pile up, and though Raven tries to recycle as much as possible, "we just can't process all of it," Lewis said.

Not always useable items

People like Connie McHale are happy to have somewhere to take items for donation. She says she usually brings things to the Salvation Army, but since it wasn't accepting donations last week she ended up at Raven.

"I find this is a really good place, and people come in that need it and that's why we're here," she said while placing her donated items on a shelf. 

McHale's donations were quality, useable items, but not every donor is like her.

Lewis says people have dropped off broken furniture, clothing in need of mending, and other things that are simply unusable. He says Raven had to hire someone part time, to help deal with all the donations. 

"Honestly, if it's a torn piece of clothing, or if it's an old underwear or something like that, nobody's really going to take it and it's going to end up going to the landfill," he said.

For now, Raven is trying to manage the donations as best it can, but Lewis said the organization is also working with the city and the territory to come up with a long-term solution.

"We're a non-profit organization and we just don't have the funding to be staffing a free store for our city," he said.