Someone told me that all those liquids and gels discarded at Pearson’s security checkpoints go to charity. Is this true?—Frances Agnew, Rosedale
If only. Right now, the vast majority of those items get donated to the dump instead. At Pearson, the job of disposing of all the half-used sunscreen and toothpaste tubes falls to the Travel Store, a private retailer with whom the government struck a deal after new security regulations barring carry-on liquids over 90 mL were instituted last September. At the outset, the store hoped that some of the goods might be resold or given to charity, but liability concerns put an end to that idea. Faced with a deluge of gels of dubious origin, charities said thanks, but no thanks. Even non-liquid items, like the manicure scissors that frequently find themselves ejected from your carry-on, proved un-giftable: who knows where those blades have been? But there’s some consolation for poor planning: the Travel Store will mail un-flyable items to your destination, or they’ll store them until your return. (Prices start at $1 a day.) Or you can just abandon some of your luggage—a tactic sometimes employed by harried travellers faced with fines for overweight bags. Anything unclaimed for 90 days goes to the police’s K-9 training unit, contents and all, for sniffing drills.
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