by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
H&M and Wal-Mart have begun – claiming though that it is not policy and pigs fly – to destroy usable garments before trashing them, presumably so that people do not go and dumpster dive for the free clothes, in the same way as big food chains pour bleach on perfectly edible baked goods that they are throwing into the dumpsters at the end of the day.
A little digging revealed that at least the latter is a pretty common practice. But why would retailers go to such lengths to destroy irregulars and day old food?
The most common justification seems to be curbing liability for, according to an article on TampaBay.com:
“Stores have good reason to discourage Dumpster divers: If you get hurt while scavenging, the store could be in a lot more trouble than you. In 1992, two 9-year-old boys died from exposure to toxic chemicals after playing in the trash bin at Durex Industries plant in Tampa. A Durex executive pleaded guilty to a charge of storing waste illegally and had to pay each boy’s family $400,000.”
While that might explain the practice to some extent, liability is no “good reason” at all. In Britain we have been told that the practice with the bleach on baked goods is to discourage people taking the sandwiches and such and if they happen to get ill from them suing the company.
Again a very shallow excuse for if I happen to take a sandwich out of a dumpster on the day they were thrown out and I would get ill from it then there should be a ;lot of customers from the store that too will be ill; the food then would have been bad even while it was still being sold.
The excuse with regards to possible litigation is a fake.
Why do they not donate the clothing or food to charitable organizations that need it? That would not only help keep divers out, but it would divert those resources to folks who really need them. Stores could even brag on their donations. The crazy PR payoff seems like it would be more than worth the effort of coordinating with a local Salvation Army or food bank.
It is not like this food that is being thrown away into the dumpsters is rotten. The same TampaBay.com article mentioned earlier quotes a grocery store spokesman:
“If you’re smart – and they sound like they’re smart – you can use our own standards against us,” says Sweetbay spokesman Steve Smith. “Food safety is No. 1 at any retailer. Because of that, we will always put expiration dates that are before when the product actually would expire. You are always going to give yourself some padding.”
This means that, in the main, the food in the dumpster is probably safer than some of it that you may have in your larder.
The only conclusion one can come to is that these businesses rather throw away these goods because it is easier than donating them and destroying them so no one can get them for free.
The thing that gets me is the mentality that it is OK to waste food and clothing in this way, when a store or chain does this but when we waste things that way we get yelled at by the government. There is absolutely no good reason to waste food when folks are hungry or destroy garments when people are cold.
All of this is very much a harsh reminder that we live in a total throw-away society and one with double standards at that. The ordinary citizen gets yelled at and preached at when he is wasting food or what-have-you but then stores destroy perfectly good food and other goods.
When I was a child the local grocers, greengrocers, bakers and others would give away stuff at the end of the day and such, and the same with market traders, the fruit- and the vegetable merchants. Today that is, in fact, against the law in Britain. You can, however, gather then from the waste storage before the dustmen arrive and take them. They are not allowed to give the stuff to you, though. Crazy? I think so.
I have also been told by someone who used to be a manager at a large electrical goods chain that any item that has a damaged box, however, slightly, has to be thrown out into the dumpster and destroyed, regardless whether this is a $3,000 TV or a $30 radio.
So, what can we do, as concerned customers?
Maybe next time you are at a grocery or clothing store that you frequent, you could try politely asking a manager how they handle their waste. If stores see that their customers care about this sort of thing, they might think twice before dousing that trash bag in bleach. The trick here, maybe, is to ask in a way that does not come off as being preachy, just concerned. Framing the question like, “I have a crazy question for you…” might be a way to go.
Whether it is going to make a difference is a different sstory and question but maybe the wallet can do the talking.
I have come across a stupid policy at some places before when I wanted to buy a coffee machine. The machine I wanted was there on display but I was told as they had no more in the stock room that was it; they did not have any. So I said: “But I am happy to buy the display one...” and was told that they could not do that as it had been out of the box and hence there was no guarantee that everything was with it. Duh? Then sell it to me at half-price and I won't come and complain if the manual is missing or such. But, no... They rather throw it out and destroy it.
We must somehow find ways to change this attitude...
© 2010
