Reno ?: Dumpster in yard - keeping people from using it

[lb2006]

We are renovating our house & now have a dumpster & porta-john in the driveway.  The dumpster is closest to the house, with the porta-john beside of it.  We were demo-ing more this weekend when my H noticed someone put a bag of household trash in it.  The dumpster was completely empty except this bag. 

I was irritated because 1) It's private property, someone had to drive all the way up our driveway, get out of their car & chunk it and 2) our local trash facility is 1.5 miles away.  We live on a peninsula, so there is NO through-traffic.  It has to be someone on our end of the peninsula and frankly, i am irritated.  I made a sign that says "Not for Public Use"

Our contractor indicated where it is being dumped, it can't have household trash in it - but obviously folks don't care.  Is there any way to deter this type of behavior?  We're paying for it to be dumped w/construction debris, not an open facility for household trash.

Any tips are most appreciated.

[ktzmoh]

this may be gross- but can you try to find some mail in it or something with an address? I'd be so irritated I'd be tempted to return it to the owner with a note saying that you think they may have inadvertently lost something or that they may have mistaken your construction debris dumpster for a community trash can...

[lb2006]

I have considered it. As gross as it sounds. But i want to nip it in the bud right away, as it's just wrong!

I also considered being the jerk that puts it at the road with a sign on it that says, "Is this yours? If so, quit being lazy!" (and trespassing)

[darkling_glory]

Could you get some of those dummy cameras to deter people?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using proboards

[lb2006]

I called my H and told him I'm going to be that person that goes through the trash. And i'll deliver it to its rightful owner. I am a very right & wrong type person and it irritates me to no end that someone thinks this is okay!

[wineenthusiast]

If the dumpster isn't visible from the street, I would have to assume it is someone you know or someone working for the builder. But I'm with ktzmoh, I'd open it and look for mail and if you dont them personally I'd call the police and have them cited for dumping.

I dont have any tips for stopping them though. I'd print the sign instead of handwriting it and also add, all violates will be cited or something. Maybe setup a fake camera in addition to the sign?

[magdala]

Is this household trash the remains from the building crew's lunch? If yes, you want to ask the building crew to put their lunch trash in the regular trash bin. Low level crew members may not be aware of the restrictions on the trash.

[ktzmoh]

Jun 24, 2013 13:38:43 GMT -5 lb2006 said:

I called my H and told him I'm going to be that person that goes through the trash. And i'll deliver it to its rightful owner. I am a very right & wrong type person and it irritates me to no end that someone thinks this is okay!

 
let us know if you figure out the owner!!

[Deleted]

I'd be tempted to go thru it too for any personal info so I could go throw it on their front lawn.

At work we had to get a lock for ours because we'd comein on Monday and it would be full! We are in an industrial park at the end of the dead end so they had to come looking for dumpster....there is no "driving by" traffic!

[lb2006]

i hate sounding like i'm stirring up drama, but wanted feedback to see if i was legit crazy for going through it to find the owner

I think i'm going to get a no trespassing sign as well - just to be sure.
Will update tomorrow.

[lb2006]

Jun 24, 2013 13:52:53 GMT -5 magdala said:

Is this household trash the remains from the building crew's lunch? If yes, you want to ask the building crew to put their lunch trash in the regular trash bin. Low level crew members may not be aware of the restrictions on the trash.

No - contractors start today.  This trash was in there sometime Friday or Saturday.  Dumpster was just delivered Wednesday. 

[InBetweenDays]

I agree with the others about going through the trash. And definitely update us!

[sailorgray]

My mom used to have to go through people's trash when she worked for the township. People were illegally dumping and they needed to find out who. Can you believe people actually went to great lengths to cut their addresses off of things? People are crazy.

[treedimensional]

I have returned "misplaced" trash to my neighbor before. I didn't have to look very far to find junk mail and even bills in his trash. I barely had to touch it. I threw about 5 bags of trash in his backyard. In fact, I net him while I was returning his trash- he was on his way to my dumpster with another bag! I was so hot it was all I could do not to punch the little weasel right in the face. Bastard... he never did it again.

[lb2006]

Update: My H & I went through the trash last night. Apparently someone decided to have a party/picnic because it was ALL food trash - bacon, egg containers, dirty plates, cake box, juice boxes, etc. NO mail. And they don't recycle.

I bought some "NO TRESPASSING" signs and taped one to the dumpster beside my original sign and one at the front of the driveway.

The good news is the GC is out there all day starting today & he'll nip it in the bud if anyone stops by. We're there every evening & weekend, so we'll keep an eye on it as well.

I am a little disappointed we didn't find out whose it is, as I was really riled up by the time I made it to our house. I was ready to lay into someone for being lazy and taking advantage of others.

I'm sure i'll have many more crazy stories as our house progresses. Thanks for all of the feedback.