In its ongoing effort to prevent injuries or death associated with misuse or trying to enter its clothing donation bins, Diabetes Canada is nearing completion of its widespread initiative to modify and retrofit all of its bins located throughout B.C. As of today, 95 per cent of the more than 400 Diabetes Canada bins in the province have been modified to improve safety, with modifications to the remaining bins expected to be complete by Friday.
The organization is also on schedule to have safety modifications made to all 4,000 clothing donation bins across Canada by Friday, January 18, with more than 75 per cent already completed.
While no harm has come to those using Diabetes Canada clothing donation bins as intended, Diabetes Canada has moved quickly to implement modifications as soon as a tested and reliable retrofit and modification became available from its bin designer and manufacturer, Rangeview Fabrications. The national organization announced its intention to modify the bins on January 4, 2019.
The modification removes the anti-theft mechanism in the bin chute to eliminate a pinch point that has been associated with injuries and deaths to those trying to enter donation bins. Signs were already visible on Diabetes Canada donation bins, displaying text and visual direction that warns of the dangers of attempted entry or misuse.
Diabetes Canada remains committed to improving safety and will explore further bin design improvements within its operations as they become available from clothing donation bin manufacturers and engineers. Funds raised through its clothing donation bins have played a key role in supporting Diabetes Canada activities for more than 20 years. Donations of clothing and small household items via bins or home pickup service represent nearly 25 per cent of total revenues (2017), providing essential funding for diabetes research and advocacy activities, camps for children with type 1 diabetes and resources for health-care professionals.
Additionally, the program diverts more than 100 million pounds of clothing and household items from landfill sites across Canada. This translates into savings of one billion kWh of energy, equivalent to removing more than 212,000 cars from roads, protecting more than 7,200 mature trees, conserving nearly 168, 000 litres of water, and reducing our carbon footprint by 280 million pounds of CO2.
Grateful for Canadians’ generosity in efforts to end the invisible but acute epidemic of diabetes affecting millions of individuals and families, Diabetes Canada encourages those who wish to donate clothing or small household goods to schedule a home pickup by visiting https://declutter.diabetes.ca/.