City’s Giveaway Day diverts unused items from landfills

On Saturday Oct. 24, 2020 Giveaway Day returns in the City of Kingston. That’s the day you put out reusable items you no longer want for your neighbours who might like them. 

The City is reminding residents to handle any Giveaway Day items you pick up very carefully: wash/sanitize your hands after handling items and disinfect/wash them well before use.

“Use Giveaway Day to keep items that are still useful out of landfill – and find items you might need for free.  Giveaway Days are one of the tools we have in place to help us reach our goal to divert 65 per cent of Kingston’s household waste from landfill by 2025. Landfilled items contribute to climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions,” says Brandi Timpson, Acting Director of Solid Waste. 

Giveaway Day usually takes place four times over the year, and the three previously scheduled Giveaway Days for 2020 were cancelled due to the pandemic. When Kingstonist asked the City why they decided to run the fall installment, they told us:

“We know a lot more about COVID-19 now. We now know it is not likely to be transmitted by objects, which we are encouraging people to wash in any case. Giveaway Day is outdoors, and we now know that makes it safer, so long as people maintain a two-metre physical distance from others or wear face coverings. The Province does have a number of hot spots, but the number of active cases in Kingston has remained low.”

Giveaway Day comes near the end of Waste Reduction Week, Oct. 19 to 25, the City said in a release dated Monday, Oct. 19, 2020. Watch the City’s Twitter feed for waste reduction ideas this week and share pictures of your waste-reduction ideas – and your Giveaway Day items – on Twitter at #WasteNotYGK.

The City has provided Giveaway Day guidelines:

Only set out appropriate items that you know someone else might want.

• Appropriate: books, CDs, DVDs, furniture and small appliances, electronics, construction materials (including drywall, lumber, hardware), kitchen gadgets, dishes, cutlery, pots and pans and, yes, unwanted gifts.
• Inappropriate: the Consumer Product Safety Bureau of Health Canada advises that these items should not be given away (or picked-up): baby walkers, cribs, car seats, strollers, playpens, bath seats, mattresses, blinds and toys.

How to put items out:

• Place items at the curb in front of your home.
• Place stickers or signs on the items with the word ‘FREE.’
• Ensure any items that you do not want taken are kept away from items placed at the curb.
• At the end of the day, bring any uncollected items back in to your home. The City will not collect unwanted items left at the curb. Consider donating them to a local charity.

How to pick items up:

• Respect other people’s property: don’t walk on people’s lawns or gardens.
• Take only the items marked ‘FREE’ and placed at the curb.
• Don’t leave previously picked up items on the curb at other people’s property.

Find these guidelines at www.CityofKingston.ca/Giveaway.