Taking a survey to see how my friends at Replay Poker would handle this little neighborhood trash dilemma. I have recently become aware that, every week after I’ve rolled our trash bins to the curb in the wee hours of the morning, my neighbor down the street scurries over and puts his trash inside my bins, saving himself the monthly trash fee. I’ve been considering my options and want your advice.
Should I:
Use a black marker and make a big sign, “Stay out of my trash, Dude!”
Scurry out after him and pull out his trash, then that night dump it on his lawn;
Let him keep using my trash bins but send him a bill for half the cost at the end of the year;
March down to his house and confront him verbally, giving him an ultimatum to pay up or cease;
Insert a clever device that will spray him with red paint when he opens the bin lids;
Take out an ad in the local paper telling the world how cheap he is;
Keep quiet and let him use the spare space in my bins, thankful I have a way to help him out.
Any other options are welcome; write them in the comments below.
I see you have a basement which suggests you live in colder climes than Florida. If this is the case and you have access to a snowplow, then create a nice pile at the end of their driveway this winter. It will then cost them to have it plowed out, unless of course they own a plow themselves. Otherwise, bribe the garbage truck driver to ‘midnite’ dump a load on their property. All of which you later take credit for. Lastly, ‘make him an offer he can’t refuse’ LOL.
I do not have garbage service where I live. To remote to make it worth their while. There is a place where I can take my trash, and all kinds of recycling. It’s only about 20 minutes away, and the only charge is for any and all non trash items, which is a dollar, and you pay when you get there. So, I don’t know how much others pay, but I’m going to guess he’s not doing it for financial reasons. I would definitely put his trash back on is doorstep, and let him know to get his own trash cans. If it continues,
I would let the city you live in know, and make it their problem.
Your pickup trucks most likely arrive close to the same time every week. Leave the bins as long as you can and hopefully it will be too late for your neighbor.
not worth the worry, i had same situation.Put the bin out fort nightly, i was ticked off about it because i would go to add more trash to the bin and it was full ,bugga.
Used to put them out the night before. Then put them out during the window of pick-up–8 to 8:30. Sneaky guy was probably hiding in my trees and ducked out the minute I was back in the house. Grrrr.
The photo’s not actually of my bins or my house, just a stock photo that illustrated the bins. I love the idea of dumping snow! I don’t get snow but I get lots of yard rubbish. Best idea of all is making him an offer he can’t “refuse!” lol
I would let him know you are wise to his antics and at the same time I would let him know he is welcome to use them provided you have the extra space. You are a kind person Jan, take the high road as you always do.
If all else fails tell him “ you’re a friend of mine “
Since you’ve identified him from living down the street, he may also be filling the bins of your other neighbors as he takes his morning walks.
Question I have is — does it cost you extra?
The reason I’m asking is because the city is going to start charging me next year for trash pickups. Currently, trash pickup is included in the property taxes. Though, I doubt the city will reduce property taxes next year.
If it cost you extra, offer him to share the costs. If not, dont care. But tell him that you know about his trash-export activities.
It is more efficient, when the company has to empty only one trash-container instead of two.
That is indeed a trashy dilemma. I’m not wise to the whole situation and how you folks get on in the community there, but one idea perhaps could be to record on video when this happens, then ask them nicely to keep their own trash to their own bin, if they deny, you have video evidence, if they persist, then eventually “trashing their lawn” could be an option, it’s all about avoiding escalations but at the same time, can’t let cheeky buggars get away with it if they only want to avoid paying some fees.
Everybody makes trash, therefore it’s their own responsibility to dispose of it properly, not just dump it off on someone else’s patch.
I would put a little alarm device on the inside of the lid , when opened it goes off which would make neighbors go to their windows also and everyone would see what he is doing.
Just to add interest, there’s a little context you might appreciate. This neighbor regularly interacts with us in a fairly friendly way. It’s a small neighborhood, several vacation homes often empty, and just three of us regularly in residence. I wouldn’t have known this was happening if not for the neighbor who walks early in the morning. She saw him sneaking his stuff in our bin and told me about it. I started keeping an eye and never, ever catch him in the act but can always find his stuff in there if I go back out and check it. He’s a hard guy to figure out. He’s never asked to use our bins, just appears to assume we’re good with it. It costs us nothing extra for him to dump in our bins. It just kind of shocks me that he would do it since I’d rather die that presume that way!
I’ve spent many years (which has been a hobby of mine) observing and analyzing both human and animal behavior in the wild. Since, it’s so close to the past Xmas season, in my semi-professional opinion (which is only because no one will pay for it) and is basically based on your previous posts.
I feel your neighbor is exhibiting the Santa Claus effect i.e., a compulsion to leave something as he walks the neighborhood. It’s similar to what Cats do as they go about their business. As the weather warms up your neighbor will eventually stop. IMO.
Likewise, your feelings are similarly related to which a number of individuals go through as they age and which I refer to as the GET OFF MY LAWN!! syndrome.
Have you noticed any change in the use of certain words in your vocabulary recently?
Especially something like You Young Whippersnappers?
This adds a whole new dimension. Deductive reasoning leads me to believe it’s the walker putting trash in your bin. You have never actually seen it happen and how do you know what he has for trash ? Only the walker knows the real culprit.
If only you had a “ Ring “ video doorbell.
Best idea of all is making him an offer he can’t “refuse!” lol
