Officials urge residents to stop littering into textile bins

School officials are urging residents to stop dumping their trash inside of textile bins outside of the schools. 

In a Facebook post Wednesday, Dartmouth Public Schools shared a photo of overfilled bins outside of Cushman School.

The district noted that the bins are used for bagged textiles as part of the Massachusetts School Box program established by Bay State Textiles.

The project supports public schools by providing monthly rebate checks based on $100 per ton of donations. Some of the items are then redistributed in the used-clothing market or recycled to be made into wiping cloths.

At Dartmouth schools, the rebates are used to fund special activities for students.

According to the post, if garbage continues to be placed in the bins, the district will be forced to eliminate its participation in the program. 

“It is sad to see such a great program being threatened because it is being abused,” the post read. “Please help us maintain this program by abiding by the rules.” 

Dartmouth Police Detective Kyle Costa noted that it is illegal to leave this litter around town.

“Those bins are not meant for trash and it clearly says that,” he said. 

He added that if anyone sees a person dumping their trash into or around the collection bins to call the police department at (508) 910-1700. 

“If it goes under the categorization of illegal dumping, we’ll take the matter very seriously,” Costa said.