Abandoned Shopping Carts Cause for Concern

Wednesday, 15 July 2015 11:53

The City of Woodstock is looking for ways to ensure shopping carts go back to the stores they came from.

WOODSTOCK - Abandoned shopping carts have become a problem in the Friendly City.

The issue has caught the attention of City Councillor Todd Poetter and was discussed at the last council meeting. So far this year the city has retrieved over 90 carts. Councillor Poetter's concerns centre around public safety. "It is quite a temptation for the younger generation that may decide to have a little fun in them, and of course injuries can result in that. The second part of it is during the winter the snow plow operators have a real problem with the shopping carts that end up on the sidewalk. As the big pile of snow melts all of a sudden the shopping carts will start to magically appear."

City Council carried a decision to create a report in hopes of finding ways to control the problem; sometimes carts can travel kilometres away from their original home. Councillor Poetter is looking to work with the public to find a solution to the problem. "We can't get the the business community that own the shopping carts to help us. We are obviously not trying to deny the public to get their groceries home. I think it is just a case of coming up with some sort of an agreement for the people to return the carts when they do take them."

Councillor Poetter cannot stress enough to just return the carts when you are done so they don't become stranded in Woodstock. "Anybody that takes the shopping cart off the business property, I would love to see them bring it back. I understand there are many areas in the city where apartment building and high residential areas are around the groceries stores, and I understand the need to use of them. But please bring them back when you are done with them."

One of the speculations made at the meeting was that because store owners are reimbursed with new carts for all the ones lost, some owners might not be keeping a very watchful eye on some of the older carts.