Thanks so much for the info.  I wondered if it was something like that.  I will talk to any business I frequent with one of those boxes.

My wife and I were just talking about this briefly last night. Local no profits only for us!

Why don't the local nonprofits make it just as easy to drop off donations?  A box available 24/7 where I'm already shopping is much easier than planning an out of the way trip, and I think many others would agree.

Although Savers partners with nonprofit companies, they are a privately held for-profit thrift store.

I agree.

Although dog poo may be going a bit far, I think that misleading people for profits is a terrible thing to do. Lets get rid of these boxes!

United Cerebral Palsy serves people with all types of disabilities in Minnesota.  In 2007, UCP of Central Minnesota entered into a contract with Triangle Recycling to provide recycling clothing containers in convenient locations for the general public to drop off unwanted clothing and shoes.  

Triangle Recycling does all of the work and contributes at least 5% of its gross proceeds to UCP to help us continue to provide programs and services to people with disabilities in Minnesota.  The donations from Triangle Recycling have totaled thousands of dollars to help us enrich the quality of life for persons with cerebral palsy and other disabilities.  

United Cerebral Palsy has two offices in Minnesota, one in St. Paul and one in St. Cloud.  Through these locations, we serve the entire state of Minnesota.  Our programs include information and referral services, public education, financial assistance to purchase specialized equipment, a computer recycling program for people with disabilities and an assistive technology loan and demonstration program.  We host workshops for families and professionals and collaborate with many other disability agencies. 

Triangle has been very generous with UCP and by providing this convenient recycling service, it is helping people with disabilities in the Duluth and entire state of Minnesota.  Triangle is doing all the work, providing the insurance, licensing, drivers, and the details of conducting this business, and UCP and the people we serve are benefiting from the generosity.  

There are many nonprofit organizations that have clothing containers such as Epilepsy, Lupus, Disabled Veterans, and others, and all are trying to keep their programs and services viable.  

The containers are not misleading.  They clearly state that "a portion of the proceeds benefit United Cerebral Palsy."  We are fortunate to have an ethical company such as Triangle Recycling helping us to raise much-needed dollars to help us continue to serve those in need.

In response to a customer request I would like to try and set the record straight.

The past month or so some unfortunate misinformation has been stated about Triangle Recycling, our service and our agreement with the UCP. The misinformation has in large part come from others in the recycling industries that are just looking to push the blame on us for in-house problems with their own programs.  Much like sour grapes.

Triangle Recycling has for many years now been working in the areas of recycling unwanted clothing and textiles. We pride ourselves on being very open and straight forward in our operations and with our recycling partners. 

We are a Minnesota, for profit company that recycles clothing and sells it on the world market to buyers who then use it in the best way they can. 

Some cloth is resold in thrift stores. Some cloth is remade into other items. Some cloth is used in different industries for cleaning. If you have ever used a box of rags to wipe down a woodworking stain project you have used recycled cloth.  
	
Some of our detractors say that we are trying to mislead the public and are not local. We are a Minnesota company out of Anoka. We work in St Cloud, Brainerd, Duluth, Mpls/St Paul metro areas all with Minnesota jobs and lives. The UCP service people all over the state of Minnesota from International Falls to Pipestone and in between. our website and letters and handouts all say much the same thing, we don't hide anything. 

Many of our detractors are part of national groups that not only work local but supports the national organizations too. Does that mean they are not local?? The recycling business in steel, aluminum, iron & clothing etc. is all on a world market. That old car you sold was crushed and may have been sent to china. The clothing is used all over the United States and the world depending on who wants to buy it.   
	
As part of our business ethics we feel a responsibility to support others who cannot help themselves and that's part of the reason for our working agreement with the central Minnesota United Cerebral Palsy. We take 5% of our gross profit and donate it to support the programs and people they serve. Over the past 3 years we have donated over $25,000 to this cause. 

To some 5% does not seem like much to give but in business that's a huge amount. Your local grocery store makes about 2% net profit on a loaf of bread that's .06 on a $3.00 product. How many loafs of bread would we need to sell to donate that $25,000 to the UCP???? 

On a local Duluth web page (This One) I saw someone talking about Triangle Recycling only giving 5%. That does not mean 95% in the bank. After taxes, the uncertain fuel cost, trucks, warehouse, building truck & machinery repairs, computers, office needs, shipping cost, the recycling boxes themselves, drivers to place and empty the recycling boxes, office staff, sales staff, property insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance, liability insurance. All that comes before any profit for the company.  Even a not for profit has many of the same expenses and when they talk about keeping all of the money for the charity they are being less then honest. How much do they pay in expenses and labor cost.   

The fact is if we did not approach the UCP and work out this agreement they would not just do it themselves they would do without. And the people they serve are the ones who would hurt the most. Triangle Recycling works to improve our service, help the UCP, maintain our Minnesota jobs and still hold our head up and say who we are and what we do. 

A Minnesota company with Minnesota jobs helping local Minnesota people in need offering a service the public wants. We are not in the business of trying to scam anyone or hurt local non profits. we just go about our own business and ask others to do the same.

Thank you for recycling with us.  
Triangle Recycling

During a time when all non-profit organizations are struggling, any small monetary donation greatly impacts the population it serves.

I once again ask- Instead of complaining, why don't places like the Damiano Center and the Salvation Army make it just as easy to donate?  Businesses are obviously willing to host drop-off sites.  

Personally, I appreciate that someone is willing to do all of the work required to make it very convenient for me to drop off my old stuff.  I'm glad it's getting reused or recycled, and if other Minnesotans are able to make a living off of it while at the same time benefiting those in need, more power to them!

Instead of a smear campaign, how about some extra proactive work to get more people donating goods to even more worthy causes?

Claiming that Triangle Recycling hurts area non-profits while at the same time not knowing that Savers is a for-profit company based out of Washington makes me skeptical of the original poster's information and intent.  Doubly so because I read the original letter to the editor online in the DNT, and people in the comments there also pointed out that Savers is not a local non-profit, but the misinformation continues to be spread.

I'm glad that Triangle at least jumped in to have their say here.  I'm also just happy when people find ways to reuse and recycle items rather than tossing them.

I would like to touch on the question/statement "why don't places like the Damiano Center and the Salvation Army make it just as easy to donate? Businesses are obviously willing to host drop-off sites."  Goodwill did have drop off bins like this years ago.  The problem with this is that people will throw their trash, unsellable merchandise, and other things that do not belong in the boxes.  Also, if you read the post from Triangle Recycling you should note that it creates a large expense to the provider. Places such as the Damiano Center do not have the funding to support such a high cost project.

Next I would like to bring up the verbal attack and not so humble opinion in regards to Goodwill.  All of the donations that are collected for this agency get processed by individuals with a disability or other barrier to employment.  The people that work at Goodwill are working to better their skills and abilities while earning a fair wage with the intent of moving on to bigger and better jobs.  Sometimes this is not the case and the individual does not want to leave the job that was supposed to lead them elsewhere.  Sometimes people "get comfortable" with the environment, need more accommodations than employers are willing to provide, or for some other reason they just like working at Goodwill.  The thing that people need to truly understand is that Goodwill hires people with disabilities and gives them a fair wage for the work they are doing with the hopes of helping them achieve a higher vocational goal.  They are a nonprofit organization not "a huge, uber-rich exploitative corporation that makes its profits at the expense of its disabled and underpaid workers."  All of the money that Goodwill receives from it's retail stores goes back into programming and pays the wages of the workers not into the pockets of the people that help to run the organization.  The wages of these people that help to run the organization are a whole lot less than the wages of individuals in similar positions at other corporations and even within similar nonprofit organizations.  

Lastly, I would like to comment in regards to "The bins in the area can't really be doing that much damage to the local organizations."  With our uncertain economy people seem to be holding on to their material possessions longer instead of donating them.  In addition to other factors, the bins do play a role in the recent lack of donations.  This statement reminds me of the mindset of "oh, one cigarette butt on the ground, or one piece of paper not recycled, or one barrel of toxic substance improperly disposed of cannot be causing that much harm to our environment."  Think about it.

We take our cast off things -- except for books, we donate books to the Duluth Public Library and to UWS library -- to Goodwill also because we can get a receipt for our records for tax purposes.