Funny because it's true

This from Phil Mir from 4BC:

It's true people. The metal frames in shopping trolley's create a magnetic field that interferes with the part of your brain relating to short term memory.

I have discovered this after much research and observation in a variety of shopping centres. The phenomenon seems to occur immediately after the shopper has loaded their groceries and ceased all physical contact with said trolley. Dazed and confused they are unable to locate or return the trolleys to the allocated trolley bays being forced instead to leave the trolley abandoned in the carpark.
Others have become so disorientated that they wander the street in search of a place to leave their metal framed friends. Another disturbing result of this phenomenon is that it completely removes the memory of how difficult it is to steer one of these fully laden beasts.

People who not 5 mins ago were struggling to navigate this chariot of destruction are now totally oblivious to the plight of their fellow shoppers and will aimlessly walk straight towards these trolleys seemingly unable to change direction. Thus forcing the already frazzled shopper to slip a lower back disc trying to manoeuvre themselves around these poor unfortunate souls.

The same thing seems to apply to babystrollers and prams, though as most of these are made of plastic I may need to research further.

So next time you are trying to navigate your weekly grocery load around the streams of people walking mindlessly in a straight line, unable to change direction. Do not get angry .It is not their fault. There is a power involved here which is beyond the realms of normal human understanding.

Dangerous Train Of Steel

Last week I wrote a post on dangerous shopping trolleys and just today came across this story from Cairns:

KEITH Denton risks having his foot amputated, three years after his ankle was squashed by shopping trolleys outside a suburban shopping centre...

...In July 2005, The Cairns Post reported on Mr Denton's injuries after he said he was pinned up against a wall by a "dangerous train of steel" of between 30 and 40 trolleys. At the time Centro had fobbed off Mr Denton's claims about the number of trolleys and said footage showed only eight.

The story doesn't describe in detail how the specific incident occured, but if trolleys were locked in corrals when not in actual use, surely it makes sense that workplace injuries due to shopping trolleys would drop.

Crichlow in trolley push

Southport-based Gold Coast City Councillor Dawn Crichlow is to be congratulated for recognising the real environmental problem of dumped shopping trolleys.

The story at right is from today's Gold Coast Sun Newspaper:
I've written her an e-mail in the hopes that she might follow the lead of Frankston Council in Victoria which has made locking shopping trolleys mandatory. Here is the e-mail:

Dear Councillor Crichlow,
I wanted to thank you for your comments in today's Gold Coast Sun on page 7 regarding the dumping of shopping trolleys.

This has been a pollution problem that I have been concerned with for quite sometime. I've even started a blog about it called http://trolleyhell.blogspot.com, where I have photographed dumped trolleys that are an ugly eyesore on our city.

I believe the only real solution is for all shopping trolleys to be the lockable type like you see at Aldis, Spotlight and Ikea. The coin/token shopping trolley reduces dumpage because people want to get their coin or token back.

There are councils in Victoria and New South Wales which have passed bylaws making it mandatory for these supermarkets and shopping centres to supply locking trolleys. Frankston Council is one of them I believe.

Can I encourage you to move a bylaw for the Gold Coast City that would immediately eliminate the problem of shopping trolley 'strays'. This would also be good for the environment because it would reduce the number of vehicle movements required by the trolley collection tractors and by extension council vehicles as per your suggestion of the council removing and storing uncollected trolleys.

Just to let you know, I'm going to publish this letter on my blog and I hope that I can soon add your reply.

Yours faithfully,

Vickie Lester
Green Shopper
TrolleyHell.Blogspot.com

I'll let you know when we've received a response.

Dumping on trolley dumpers

The Gold Coast Bulletin had a little column piece in last Saturday's paper about trolley dumpage.



It's great to see that there is a recognition that this is a serious environmental problem.

Large shopping centres that serve a sizable population within walking distance will always experience this problem, unless those shops providing the trolleys have some locking system, dumpage and theft are going to be prevalent.

It would be nice if shopping centre management agencies would introduce them as part of their environmental commitment but if they won't, perhaps it is time for legislators to step in.

Welcome To My Trolley Hell

If there is one environmental issue that really gets my goat it's abandoned shopping trolleys.

It's the height laziness. For crying out loud, when you've unloaded your groceries, put the trolley back. It's not that hard and you might get some exercise along the way.

So why has this issue got me steamed?

1. I'm sick of having dents on my car doors from careless people leaving trolleys to roll down hill.
2. I'm sick of trolleys being dumped in my local creek by environmental vandals who've probably used the trolley to transport their ill-gotten haul as a result of their shop lifting and house breaking
3. I'm sick of trolleys being abandoned on the foot path hundred of metres away from the nearest shops by people who are too lazy to buy their own little portable trolley.
4. I'm sure doctors are sick of seeing injuries on kids who have decided to use the trolley as a billy kart or skateboard stunt accessory.

Solving this problem is so easy - lock the trolleys up!

It's can't be that difficult.

Aldis does it, Ikea does it and I've been told that some councils in Sydney and Melbourne have made it mandatory for ALL supermarkets to provide token lock shopping trolleys.

So, why should we do this?:

1. Reduce visual pollution of dumped trolleys
2. Reduce pollution caused by rusting trolleys in creeks and waterways
3. Reduce incidence of vehicle damage caused by runaway trolleys
4. Reduce injury to people who are accidentally hit by trolleys or who are injured by misusing trolleys
5. Reduce the number of vehicle movements required to pick up trolleys from around car parks and surrounding streets.

Please join me in my quest to make the streets a nicer, safer place and make the world a little more environmentally friendly.