Be a responsible donor

USED clothes, shoes, kitchen utensils, books, and magazines are among the donated items often seen at the 3R collection centre in Miri.

While these discards may find a home among those who still have use for them, it’s extremely important to learn to be a responsible donor by making sure the donated items are properly cleaned and segregated.

Very often, eyesores such as broken refrigerators, a creaky piece of furniture, and even a toilet bowl are dumped at the centre’s collection station, exposing the predisposition of most people to wanton disposal of unwanted belongings in the name of charity.

First, one must understand the main role of 3R Centre, its purpose and how to utilise the facility properly.

Humble beginnings

A thrift shop was set up under the Malaysian Red Crescent Miri District (MRC Miri) fundraising sub-committee, which is the section that receives donations of money, clothes, books, and other things.

Realising that about 60 to 70 per cent of the donated items exceeded the need of disaster victims, the shop, manned by a committee of only three members, assist with running the centre, mainly handling the items that usually come in bundles.

“The objective of the thrift shop is to utilise excessive donated items – usually those not used or not suitable for disaster relief and are put aside and transferred here for sale at very affordable prices,” centre operations manager Jong Jing Kwong told thesundaypost.

“The centre offers an avenue for the community to dispose of their used stuff and proceeds from sales of the items will be channelled back to the MRC Miri District for financing activities under its name.”

Since the shop’s operation in 1998, sales of used clothes have continued to increase almost every year. In 2007, the thrift shop was upgraded to a 3R Centre with its own sub-committee and a much bigger premise.

The upgrade was necessary with the steady rise in public readiness to donate and buy. And as the number of donations, managed by the centre, kept going up, a bigger space was needed.

“True to its principle of 3R – Reduce, Reuse and Recycle – the centre offers a venue for the local community to deposit their unwanted items for a useful purpose.

“More importantly, it’s MRC’s way of supplementing the government’s effort to preserve the environment by helping the community to reduce, reuse and recycle solid waste for useful purposes and prevent the waste from ending up in a landfill,” Jong explained.

Inside the centre, a variety of items are segregated according to their types and these include clothing, electrical items, household utensils and linens, books, toys, shoes, bags, and recyclable items with a display of pricing for each category.

According to the summary of sales at the 3R Centre, the most bought items are clothing, newspapers, mixed paper, cardboard, plastic, books, metal, aluminium cans, glass bottles, and electrical parts.

Clothing, newspapers, and books are some of the most sought after by not only individual buyers but also recycling agents who frequent the centre to pick up items that can be resold.

Public awareness 

The 3R Centre operates every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 9.30am till noon.

Despite the centre’s existence for more than two decades, Jong pointed out that awareness of proper waste disposal among the local community still needed to improve, particularly the management of items before they were donated.

“At our collection centre next to the 3R Centre, piles of donated items can reach as high as several metres, especially during peak season like before Chinese New Year or year-end cleaning.

“Our committee will work on rearranging the stuff according to their category, checking the safety and cleanliness before proceeding to the next stage.”

He noted that only 10 to 20 per cent of the donated items were properly cleaned and sorted.

“We’ve encountered domestic rubbish and even food leftovers stuck in a pack of donated clothes apart from dusty or dirty items that needed a lot of cleaning.

“The amount of hard work put in by our volunteers and committee in processing the donated items should not be overlooked. Regardless of whether they are for disaster relief or sale at a thrift shop, our principle is to provide convenience and earn the trust of both shoppers and donation recipients.”

As for plastic bag waste usage, there has been no significant reduction in volume even after the reusing and repurposing of the plastic bags, Jong said as he showed thesundaypost the huge number of bags – both eco and plastic – kept in a storage room.

“We try keeping all the donated plastic bags in a big box but the box has reached its storage limit. Meantime, let’s ask ourselves how many more items will eventually end up or have already ended up in landfills, the oceans and anywhere else on the planet.”

Right mindset

Based on the items sold, it’s obvious clothing is the most popular.

As such, Jong said, there is a need for the community to revise their idea of the 3R Centre and better understand the dos and don’ts when it comes to donating discards.

“Judging from the number of donated clothing received, a lot of them have been put on sale at the 3R Centre because they are deemed unsuitable for disaster victims. Some are very new with the latest fashion. It will be quite awkward if we give those to the victims who need only basic clothing.”

To prevent the clothing from ending up in a landfill, Jon said as an alternative, they would be resold unless they were in very bad condition.

As for other donated items, the community should understand the difference between things that are suitable and reusable and those that may need other disposal alternatives, he added.