Pictured here, from left to right, are Beata Tymoszejko, Regional Manager for Western Canada, Government & Strategic Partnerships at Diabetes Canada, Ed Laverock, Okanagan Valley Operations Manager at Diabetes Canada, Graham Lamont, City Sanitation Supervisor, and Marcia Dick, Solid Waste Services Analyst, with one of the new donation bins at the Kamloops Yacht Club.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED/City of Kamloops

KAMLOOPS — Wondering about the best way to get rid of some old clothes, bags or shoes? 

The City of Kamloops has teamed up with Diabetes Canada to encourage people to recycle their textiles with drop-off clothing donation bins. They accept things like accessories, bags, clothing, and footwear, and general household items such as towels, blankets, sheets, curtains, and sleeping bags. More information can be found on the Diabetes Canada webpage including how to arrange free at-home pick ups.

Kamloops residents can bring their unwanted items to one of the nine donation bin locations announced on Thursday, May 16. Those listed in a City of Kamloops media release are at:

• Albert McGowan Park
• Barnhartvale Landfill Diversion Area
• Brocklehurst Arena
• Bunker Road Recycling Depot
• John Tod Centre
• Mission Flats Landfill Diversion Area
• Rae-Mor Park
• Valleyview Park
• Yacht Club

Disposing your textiles in these recycling bins instead of the garbage will create the volume of clothing needed for Diabetes Canada to sell to Value Village and other recycling services. The revenue will then be given back to the charity to help Diabetes Canada with its operations across the country.

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"Millions of Canadians with diabetes or prediabetes, including children attending Diabetes Canada summer camps, rely on the funding generated through the organization’s textile diversion operations," the release, says. "Funds raised also provide essential funding for diabetes research and advocacy activities and resources for health care professionals."

These bins are also a part of a national textile diversion research study, with York University and Diabetes Canada, intended to identify the economic, environmental, and social impacts of textile diversion for municipalities.

“We’re the first municipality in B.C. to partner with Diabetes Canada in this study,” Marcia Dick, City of Kamloops solid waste services analyst, says on the phone.

Dick also adds that textiles are a significant part of the waste stream that the City would like to see diverted from the landfill.

According to the 2017 Public Works and Utilities Report, the landfill waste stream has risen to 0.693 tonnes per capita up from 0.490 tonnes per capita in 2014. The 2017 figure is two times the Sustainable Kamloops Plan goal to reduce landfill waste to 0.3 tonnes per capita by 2020.

Go here for more information on recycling in Kamloops.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Shelby Thevenot or call (250) 819-6089 or email the editor You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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