12 December 2016

Are you sick of shopping trolleys in your streets?

12 August 2015 | thebadtouch

The exponential increase in the number of shopping trolleys dumped in Australian streets is a disgrace. They litter the streets and can cause panel damage to parked cars. They are dumped in waterways, on roadsides and nature strips. They make our towns and suburbs look untidy and unloved.

In addition to being eyesores, especially when dumped in enviro-sensitive areas such as alongside streams or in nearby recreational bushland spaces, these trolleys are a hazard to pedestrians and traffic and cost retailers millions of dollars a year to replace, repair or return to the store.

If, like me, you’re sick of the sight of trolleys in your suburb then I encourage you to please sign the petition I’ve started on Change.org. 7

Feel free to share this link too. The more people who sign, the more Coles and Woolworths will have to take notice.

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tim_c3:42 pm 24 Aug 15

FB said :

I don’t really think this is a viable solution. It’s a bit like punishing the many for the sins of the few. My local Woolies (Kippax) has coin trolleys. I avoid the place because of this and shop elsewhere. I often don’t have a coin on me when I just drop in and every time I try to return the trolley to the trolley bay it’s blocked etc.
I think the retailers know this so won’t implement it nationwide. As a result retailers are not going to implement the change themself.

The law and penalties are pretty clear regarding trolleys
http://www.tams.act.gov.au/city-services/city_rangers/changes_to_shopping_trolley_legislation_litter_act_2004
They just need to be enforced more.

Forget the fine for littering – these people are stealing, and should be treated accordingly.

tim_c3:40 pm 24 Aug 15

I’m more worried about how much each of these missing shopping trolleys is adding to my grocery bill. They cost a few hundred dollars each to replace, and guess who’s paying for that? Everyone who buys groceries.

Perhaps they should just start prosecuting the people who walk off with them, usually people who take the trolley most of the way home before unloading their shopping – I often see trolleys abandoned along the Athllon Dr side of those dodgy suburbs of Swinger Hill and Mawson.

puggy2:33 pm 24 Aug 15

carnardly said :

You know what – if you don’t like them use your smarts. Dob them in to trolley trackers. Each of the major shops have one.

You might win yourself $1000 and they’re usually picked up pretty quickly.

Your suggestion is great in theory. In practise, it sucks, because to keep on top the abandonments, I need to submit something to trolleytrackers, fixmystreet or the Coles equivalent about six times a week, every week. Does that sound reasonable to you? It’s the same people leaving their trolleys in the same spots after every shopping trip. There are makeshift collection points 2 to 3 km away from the shops! Also, they don’t make it convenient to report trolleys and I find I’m typing in the same info again and again to report trolleys in the same area but on different streets.

I get annoyed not because of any “danger”, but because it tells me that my community is full of morons.

rosscoact1:19 pm 24 Aug 15

gbates said :

I previously worked at a shopping centre with a stolen trolley problem. Eventually it became a trial site for electronic trolley locks which disable the trolley when it leaves the site. It seemed to fix the issue and was likely cost effective – supermarket trolleys are surprisingly expensive.

They had this in Cairns when I was there recently. Nil shopping trolleys in the streets.

dungfungus12:25 pm 24 Aug 15

london said :

Yes I am also sick of seeing trolleys around the streets. I would like a dob in number and see people fined. How lazy they are. I see young and older people pushing trolleys down the street. One day when walking even saw a young couple pushing one with a matress on over near Franklin. But if it’s too hard to push the trolley into collection points in car parks I don’t suppose there’s much hope of stopping them being left in streets.It’s just the same as those who throw rubbish everywhere. No respect.

“One day when walking even saw a young couple pushing one with a mattress on over near Franklin.”
Probably chavs on a camping trip.

london12:49 pm 23 Aug 15

Yes I am also sick of seeing trolleys around the streets. I would like a dob in number and see people fined. How lazy they are. I see young and older people pushing trolleys down the street. One day when walking even saw a young couple pushing one with a matress on over near Franklin. But if it’s too hard to push the trolley into collection points in car parks I don’t suppose there’s much hope of stopping them being left in streets.It’s just the same as those who throw rubbish everywhere. No respect.

Deref3:42 pm 14 Aug 15

Simple – issue the owner with a, say, $5k fine for each trolley found, $100 of which goes to the person reporting it.

Watch how quickly they put coin locks on them!

And yes, of course they’d pass the costs on to the consumer, but if the fine’s set high enough the rise in prices would soon make them uncompetitive with rivals whose trolleys had coin locks.

carnardly10:15 pm 13 Aug 15

hazards to pedestrians and the like? oh please – go for a gold logie elsewhere.

You know what – if you don’t like them use your smarts. Dob them in to trolley trackers. Each of the major shops have one. You might win yourself $1000 and they’re usually picked up pretty quickly.

http://www.trolleytracker.com.au/reportatrolley/tabid/61/default.aspx

dungfungus8:50 am 13 Aug 15

rommeldog56 said :

damien haas said :

They are indeed a blight.

Excellent post with some ways to report the problem here:

https://inthetaratory.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/the-shopping-trolley/

I wonder if trolleys will be able to be taken onto the tram as that would encourage tram usage by people who need to shop.

If so, that might help to ease the blight of abandoned shopping trolleys by spreading the visual impact across a wider area.

There – who says the tram won’t be useful after all !.

“….. spreading the visual impact across a wider area.”
Excellent idea.
In fact, the trams would compliment empty ACTION buses as they move air between suburbs.

Antagonist7:00 am 13 Aug 15

Evilomlap said :

Antagonist said :

Evilomlap said :

Antagonist said :

Alexandra Craig said :

I thought we already had coin operated trolleys. Either way, I don’t think they work. If I am going to steal a trolley I won’t be concerned about losing a few dollars.

The coin-op system as used by Aldi is not there to discourage theft. It provides an incentive to return the trolley to the store when they are finished with it. It also saves money on having to pay trolley collectors. If you don’t think it works, just ask yourself how many abandoned ALDI trolleys you have seen in carparks? Now ask yourself how many abandoned Coleworths trolleys you have seen abandoned. It is also interesting to note that ALDIs trolleys are always in *much* better condition than any trolley you will find in Coleworths. The system not only works, but it works exceptionally well. Coleworths would do well to follow ALDI’s lead.

It doesn’t work very well at the Jamison ALDI, because there’s a Coles next door. Mostly, people just grab a Coles trolley to use in ALDI.

Works fine at Aldi Chisholm which also has a Coles next door. It also works fine at Aldi Tuggeranong which is right next to a Coles, Woolworths, Big W and Target who all provide free trolleys. Take a guess which trolleys get abandoned and which ones do not? Hint: I have never seen an abandoned Aldi trolley before – not ever.

LOL I love your name on here, it’s perfectly apt. I guess us Northsiders are just the trolley-thieving cheapskates of the grocery shopping world 🙂

Yeah I should be nicer to Alexandra. I like her articles 🙂

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