The son of a couple photographed with garbage bags heading in to Mundy Park says they were collecting bottles and did not dump the bags seen in a photo posted to Reddit earlier this week.

Yan Lin said his parents, who come to stay with him for about six months every year, don't speak English and have little to do during the day. They often walked in Mundy Park, which is near Lin's home, and when they saw somebody collecting bottles they decided to do the same.

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"They want to make a little bit of extra money," Lin said. "They don't have much savings…and they don't want to depend on me."

Lin said they walk around the neighbourhood and in Mundy Park just about every day, collecting cans and bottles. On Saturdays Lin drives them to the recycling depot on Lougheed Highway to cash in.

He said both he and his parents were angered when they saw the stories saying they had dumped the garbage bags into an already overflowing bin in Mundy Park, noting the photo doesn't actually show them leaving the bags there.

"They're a totally different size," Lin said. "This is really doing damage on them. The internet…should not be this."

spayne@tricitynews.com

@spayneTC