 A homeless woman pushes a shopping cart along the People Trail. (Picture cropped to protect her identity)  Trash left along the People Trail near Healing Waters Full Gospel Church. The increase of homeless people has brought with it an increase in trash and abandoned shopping carts and other items. It's become common to see Styrofoam cups and food wrappers scattered in the grass or left near park benches. Things like used tents, camping chairs, towels, clothing, razors, sanitary napkins are all things that become a constant reminder that we as a city need to make finding short- and long-term solutions to our homeless problem a priority. Shopping carts from nearby stores such as Walgreens, Pets Supply Plus and Target have been found abandoned along the People Trail. It's estimated US retailers lose an estimated tens of millions of dollars every year replacing lost and damaged carts. Some resort to having to pay contractors to retrieve their lost carts. Last year, Walmart paid $23,000 in fines related to abandoned shopping carts to the small town of Dartmouth, Massachusetts. These costs are inevitably passed onto us through higher taxes and higher prices. In 2019, it was reported that 88 tons of trash was collected from 34 encampment sites around Columbus, costing the city at least $2,422 to dump it at the landfill. Homelessness isn't an individual problem. It affects us all. Comments are closed.
|
AuthorI was born and raised in Columbus, and I've spent the last 24 years living and working here. I love our city, and together we can keep it great! |
