I have just discovered that a neighbour dumps their excess household rubbish in their neighbours bins as they have insufficient room in their own bin.
What would you do in this circumstance???
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Having read through the comments here I am definitely on the side of “get a life”. This started as a whinge about someone using a government owned bin – big deal? And it has morphed into a lecture about the appropriate amount of waste someone (or some houses) use.
If someone puts something in my bin after I have put it on the kerb – good on them, go for your life.
Clearly the issue seems to be more about preaching to others about how much waste we should or shouldn’t be generating. If that is your issue, perhaps pose some suggestions of initiatives as to how others (or in general, as society) we can do so.
switch said :
I rarely have bones, as the meat I buy is off the bone, so I don’t have this problem. I don’t waste the meat either, so there is no waste there to throw out.
Maya123 said :
What do you do with fish/prawns/chicken and meat bones etc? They certainly make our bin stink, especially in summer. We don’t put meat in our compost.
T1G3R said :
I now keep mine in my garage and will only put it out when it is full. This usually takes several weeks (months), as I compost and recycle properly, which many others can’t be bothered to do apparently, or their bin would not be full every week. As I compost and sort, my bin doesn’t smell; which is another sign if people don’t sort the rubbish properly.
It is likely I will miss out on the red lid, as chances are greater my bin will be in the garage than out when the exchange arrives at my street.
As far as the local government are concerned. A wheelie bin can be used by anyone if it is located on the kerb or nature strip.
If you don’t want someone using it, than move it into the backyard or closer to your home.
Better added to one of our bins than put into a charity bin – which happens all the time apparently.
seriously, the rubbish bin is still the property of ACT government, so technically, we all share those bins, they are just a chute between your house and the rubbish truck.
but if your bin is full and you cannot put your rubbish in because someone else filled it with theirs, then it is wrong and needs some attention.
Masquara said :
I’d rather they were educated.
Surely you’d rather the rubbish went into a bin – any bin – than stayed in their yards!
Sandman said :
It doesn’t matter whether you have children or not. The bin doesn’t have to be full from household generated waste every week. I knew of a family of five who only filled one supermarket sized plastic bag most weeks. It’s attitude, and they were teaching the right attitude to their children by example. I’ve known households of two people to overfill their bins most weeks. Attitude again.
As for buying new stuff that you mentioned, I recently moved house (after over twenty years in the previous house) and bought some new things for the new house; some of the items for the first time, as I didn’t have them previously. My first dining table for instance. There was a LOT of packaging. I disposed of much of the cardboard by flattening it out and using it as mulch on the garden under chips. The rest of the packaging I stored and slowly over several garbage collections disposed of it in the bin. This was almost a one off event though, after the move and is not my normal amount of rubbish. I never needed the neighbours’ bins even then. I hope most of the things I bought will last me MANY years, maybe for the rest of my life and won’t need replacing. With care and thought, household packaging can be handled, and large packaging shouldn’t be a regular occurrence.
You have explained where much of your rubbish comes from. You bring it home. I don’t blame you for this, and suggested this was about the only reason I could see why some people’s bins are full every week. Unfortunately, I’m sure that’s not the reason in many cases.
Maya123 said :
You don’t have children do you?
It’s not hard to fill a bin in a week. 2 kids, an occasional cull of household stuff, foam packaging from buying new stuff. I also work as a home handyman and bring a lot of work waste home in the truck which I then put in my own bin unless there’s enough to warrant a full trip to the tip.
Maya123 said :
Thank You– I actually agree with most of what you are saying in this reply.
Household rubbish can easily be managed, however it is up to the individual to do this… and some are just not bothered as you mentioned.
As for being enraged is the fact that you used words like sponge to describe your neighbours actions, and while I understand that it’s frustrating, knowing that some people are wasteful while you take the time to reduce, reuse and recycle, it is highly possible that people that are generating so much waste genuinely don’t feel that they should pay the extra amount for additional service for whatever reason they justify that thought with– or simply cannot afford it.
Thank You for explaining your thought process behind your argument– and just like your response to mine, there is a lot to consider in there.
jett18 said :
I think it is you who are the most enraged, using words like whinge and adding first world. No arguments, but rather statements. Although there’s some annoyance on both sides I will admit. You keep saying “first world”. I have to agree it is very first world with the amount of waste that some people generate. That is the issue here, more than that someone fills their neighbours’ bins. We should all be trying to reduce and be less wasteful, and okaying people to produce more and more rubbish, so that they have to spread it down the street to other bins, is not a step in this direction. If a neighbour came to politely ask me if they could add a bag of rubbish to my bin, I would say yes. But if this is a weekly occurrence I might hesitate. Then I would probably offer the use of my compost bin to them for their green scraps as an alternative. But chances are this offer would be rejected and they would say they would ask another neighbour, as being too lazy and not caring enough to sort rubbish is often the reason for overflowing bins. However, I have never needed to ask a neighbour for the use of their bin. There have been rare weeks when I have had too much for the bin. I store it and put it out the following week.
Why do new parents need to generate more rubbish than they can fit in their bin? If their normal rubbish is one plastic bag full (the amount I knew that a family of five generated), that leaves a lot of extra space in the bin for more rubbish. Ah, you probably mean disposable nappies! Sorry, don’t know how much space they take up, as no-one in my family has needed to use them. Cloth nappies did. Saves a lot of money too, when you haven’t got money to waste.
It is likely though, that if people who generate overflowing bins can’t get access to other people’s bins, it is possible they might dump it elsewhere, so you made a good point there. We see that beside charity bins for instance. People who don’t care enough to responsibly reduce and sort their rubbish, are likely the sort of people who would have less moral hesitancy to dump their rubbish elsewhere. That has to be considered.
Maya123 said :
Did I say I am a household rubbish smuggler? No. So stop implying that I am getting a free ride– because I’m not, my household doesn’t generate a vast amount of waste. And in answer to your question “how does someone overfill their bin on a regular basis”– ask any brand new parent how easy it is to generate more rubbish than you expect to, ever.
And further more– where has your sense of community gone? Who the heck cares who’s bin is used by whom, as long as the neighbourhood doesn’t look like a trash pit, then job done.
The act of topping off a neighbours bin does not justify how outraged you are- move on from your first world whinge please.
jett18 said :
An alternative is that you pay for your extra waste and get another bin (about $50 a year), and not sponge on your neighbours’ bin space. One bin per household is covered in your rates. You don’t pay for the space in your neighbours’ bins; you pay for one bin’s worth of space. This is your share that your rates cover. Stop complaining about people objecting to you getting a free ride and fork out the $50 and get another bin for you house.
I still am waiting for someone to explain how they manage to generate enough rubbish to regularly overfill their bin.
Jivrashia said :
dks00k, Is it such an issue that your government issued space is being used by others?
How about instead of having a big first world whinge about how this is inappropriate, suggest an alternative.
Pitchka said :
Why do you need to use your neighbours’ bins? Why do you feel the need to produce so much rubbish?
I’m wondering how you manage this. Could it be that you are wasting food? I have read that about 40% of food is wasted. Are you part of this waste? Perhaps you are choosing to bring home excessive packaging, but to overfill a bin every week, this is a lot of packaging. Do you bring home rubbish from somewhere else? Help me here, as I can’t imagine how I would fill a bin every week without putting a lot of conscious effort into doing this, or bringing in rubbish from elsewhere. Even when I once lived in a household of three adults, all doing their own thing, such as cooking most days for themselves (ie, not eating out), plus two cats with their empty food cans, we couldn’t get anywhere near a full bin every week. This was in the days before most recycling, and still we couldn’t fill the then smaller bin that was once used. No-one tried not to fill the bin; we just didn’t manage it.
So, please enlighten us as to how you manage to overfill your garbage bin. That’s amazing and a mystery to me.
LurkerGal said :
Maya123 said :
The bin isn’t, no.
But the SPACE in the bin and the service to have that emptied every week is.
So, I’d be happier if someone asks first rather than helping themselves to my space.
I often use my neighbours bins, i even use their recycling bins for household rubbish too if both mine are full. So what?
Like other said, GAL!
LurkerGal said :
It’s not YOUR bin either. Have a nice day!