Would it bother if your neighbors used your recycling bin?

[pearl]

Regularly.

I am not talking about a one-time thing. Or saying that they are regularly putting a single little thing inside here or there.

I am talking about someone regularly using your bin each week and putting in multiple items.

Examples, if you need them: large plastic orange juice containers, empty clorox wipes container, cardboard, etc.

Each residence gets its own bin.

Each bin has the address on it.


If it would annoy you, what would you do about it?


Poll questions:

PollWould this bother you (enough to try to do something)?

Answers:

Yes
No
OMG, get a life.
I would find them like Liam Neeson found his daughter in Taken

[Deleted]

No it wouldn't. I'd be happy they're recycling.

[countthestars]

I know it shouldn't but yes. Use your own fucking bin.

[no0b]

Do you pay for the bin/recycling or is that provided by the town?

That would shape my answer.

[pearl]

Aug 28, 2014 10:15:59 GMT -5 no0b said:

Do you pay for the bin/recycling or is that provided by the town?

That would shape my answer.

You do not pay for it, but you are potentially fined if you put the wrong things in your bin.
The bin is provided by the city.

[coribelle26]

Not for any good reason but yes, I would get annoyed. Why don't they have their own?

[isabel]

Yes, it would bug me.

How much would depend on my recycling needs. Do you fill your own bin every week? Do their additions cause overflow? Do you feel like you can't put out all of your recycling because they take up space with their stuff?

Honestly, next time you see them put stuff in your bin, I would just say something like, "oh, I'm sorry, we don't have room for that this week. We have too much recycling right now." Then continue until they get the point.

I'm generally much more direct than this, but this is how my H would handle it.

[Deleted]

Only if I was left with no room to put my own stuff. If I still had lots of room, then no, it wouldn't bother me.

[BaliHai]

Yes. And I'd hide the bin somehow.

[snowflurry]

In our hood, you have to pay for the bin so not every one has one. It would bother me if I paid for the bin and neighbor didn't and insisted on using my bin.

[pearl]

Aug 28, 2014 10:17:16 GMT -5 coribelle26 said:

Not for any good reason but yes, I would get annoyed. Why don't they have their own?

I do not know who is doing it.

Anyone can have a bin. If you somehow lose your (giant) bin, I think you have to pay for a replacement.

For awhile I thought it was just the next door neighbor and that they were breezy and using either bin.

That bin has since disappeared.

I am not sure if it is because they were getting annoying, too, or if it is something else.


Edit: Otherwise, basically every single place has their own bin.

[rachers]

I would - we have a large trash can size bin but it only gets picked up every other week. We fill it up quickly so I would be annoyed if we had to hold things back or throw them away just because someone else had potentially filled it.

Ours are provided by the city and they're big so hopefully we never run into it.

[onomatopoeia]

It wouldn't "bother" me, but I would think it was weird. As long as I wasn't paying extra for it or their stuff wasn't blowing all over my yard. Maybe theirs got busted? I might find an opportunity to let them know where they can purchase replacement bins.

Or you could start saying things like "wow, you guys sure go through a lot of clorox wipes! What's going on over there?", things like that.

[emjacobs]

Yes, for two reasons.
1- I pay for the service
2- They would have to purposely walk on to my property to get to it, we are in a rural area.

[pearl]

Aug 28, 2014 10:17:30 GMT -5 isabel said:

Yes, it would bug me.

How much would depend on my recycling needs. Do you fill your own bin every week? Do their additions cause overflow? Do you feel like you can't put out all of your recycling because they take up space with their stuff?

Honestly, next time you see them put stuff in your bin, I would just say something like, "oh, I'm sorry, we don't have room for that this week. We have too much recycling right now." Then continue until they get the point.

I'm generally much more direct than this, but this is how my H would handle it.

The bin gets pretty full by the time it is emptied.

Today I went to add items and now the lid won't close.

The lid would have closed if they didn't drink so much juice.

I do not see anyone putting items in the bin.

[pearl]

Aug 28, 2014 10:17:44 GMT -5 BaliHai said:

Yes. And I'd hide the bin somehow.

This would be a real hassle for me, though.

[pearl]

Would you put a sign on the bin asking them not to add items?

[no0b]

Aug 28, 2014 10:17:18 GMT -5 pearl said:

Aug 28, 2014 10:15:59 GMT -5 no0b said:

Do you pay for the bin/recycling or is that provided by the town?

That would shape my answer.

You do not pay for it, but you are potentially fined if you put the wrong things in your bin.
The bin is provided by the city.

Then yes, this would bother me. 

[KaraOrNot]

We never have enough space for our own recycling, so yes, this would annoy me.

[cville]

I refuse to answer until you tell us who you are.

[captainobvious]

Could you be fined for the items they are putting in?

[Deleted]

Yes it would and I would find some passive-aggresive way to get back at them.

[dottyblue]

I initially thought I didn't care, but:

1. you can be fined if they put non-recyclable items in it
2. your bin is overflowing by pick-up day

Those two things alone would make me speak to neighbors and tell them to knock it off. Don't do a sign. Talk to them.

[pearl]

Aug 28, 2014 10:24:07 GMT -5 cville said:

I refuse to answer until you tell us who you are.

Someone who cares about recycling and personal space!

[pearl]

Aug 28, 2014 10:25:18 GMT -5 dottyblue said:

I initially thought I didn't care, but:

1. you can be fined if they put non-recyclable items in it
2. your bin is overflowing by pick-up day

Those two things alone would make me speak to neighbors and tell them to knock it off. Don't do a sign. Talk to them.

It could seriously be anyone.

And I never see my neighbors.

I can't see knocking on at least 5 doors, you know?

I think it's the sign or deal with it.

[dottyblue]

Aug 28, 2014 10:26:47 GMT -5 pearl said:

Aug 28, 2014 10:25:18 GMT -5 dottyblue said:

I initially thought I didn't care, but:

1. you can be fined if they put non-recyclable items in it
2. your bin is overflowing by pick-up day

Those two things alone would make me speak to neighbors and tell them to knock it off. Don't do a sign. Talk to them.

It could seriously be anyone.

And I never see my neighbors.

I can't see knocking on at least 5 doors, you know?

I think it's the sign or deal with it.

oh!  I thought you knew who was doing it. 

Definitely a sign in this case.

[nomad100]

Yes because we fill our recycle bin to the top every 2 weeks. Someone else putting their stuff in my bin means that I have to now find a place to store or bag the stuff that won't fit because they are lazy.

And the fact that I pay for my bin and they are putting their trash in it would push me over the edge.

[hereigo]

Aug 28, 2014 10:17:18 GMT -5 pearl said:

Aug 28, 2014 10:15:59 GMT -5 no0b said:

Do you pay for the bin/recycling or is that provided by the town?

That would shape my answer.

You do not pay for it, but you are potentially fined if you put the wrong things in your bin.
The bin is provided by the city.

I put, OMG, get a life.

BUT, with the bolded I change my opinion. Yes, it would bother me.

[lime]

This has happened to me in the past, both with my recycling and with my trash. I was unable to close the lid on either can one time.

I solved that by pulling the bins into my yard and only putting them out right before the trucks were scheduled to show up.

[BaliHai]

Aug 28, 2014 10:22:01 GMT -5 pearl said:

Aug 28, 2014 10:17:44 GMT -5 BaliHai said:

Yes. And I'd hide the bin somehow.

This would be a real hassle for me, though.

Then call them out? Try to catch them in the act, then stroll up all casually and ask them if they misplaced their bin, and if so they can request a replacement from the city/township.

ETA: I see that you never see them. I guess a sign is your only option, though I think it would be more effective to confront them in person.