The only way to settle this is through dumpster wars.

Assuming they aren't stupid, your problem should be solved!

I have several suggestions from personal experience, none of them appropriate for this forum

But they put their stuff in his garbage...

It's like someone disposes his bag on my terrace. It's human nature to check what's in the bag.

Why do I have this intense feeling of deja vu all of a sudden. :bonk:

(I lived in a terrace with no useful route to the back)

And if you could I'd put a lock on the bin.

If you can't seem to find any explosives, rig up a spring loaded plate that triggers when the lid is opened. Place a few raccoons or other pest animals onto the plate, leave it out for the night, and never worry about it again.

Oh God, and you sifted through that? You creepy, bro.

Monday Monday Monday, ITS DUMPSTER WAR RALLYS.

Just ask them out

now, i understand that offering to purchase them a new bin seems counter productive and counter intuitive and you'd probably not wan to do that. offer to split the cost 50/50, then? the idea is to conquer evil with good. you might end up sacrificing the price of the container, but in the end gain a better relationship with them.

We have the bin chained up to the wall - a precaution we adopted after our bin was stolen - but there is no way to actually lock them shut, unfortunately. The bins look like http://www.internetgardener.co.uk/onlinegardencentreimages/uploads/wheelie-bin-size.jpg

How do you guys survive getting your trash taken every two weeks? :blink:

:swear: I have a rather annoying situation I'd like to vent, and hopefully elicit some advice for...

First some brief background: I live in a small English city, and like the rest of the country our trash is collected every two weeks. Each household is given a reasonably-sized rubbish bin, and additional ones can be purchased through the local city council (for an outrageous sum of ￡50, at least - which I found out to my dismay when our own bin was stolen one night...) Eco collection happens on the alternating weeks, with recycling in clear sacks left on the curb and garden waste placed into a separate green-colored bin (also costing an extra ￡50, and not provided by the council.) Anyone not following these procedures has their collection ignored, and in some cases can receive a fine. Generally, it's a system that works.

But apparently this is not enough for some people, since over the past few months I've been finding more trash in our bin than I ever put there - one of my neighbours has been dumping their crap in with ours. At first I thought it would be a one-off or temporary thing, but it has continued and the last straw came tonight when I found they had filled to the brim with trash not just our regular bin but also the green garden waste bin. Which, of course, I had to empty and sort out at 2AM when I put the bins out onto the street. :flame:

So, being the sneaky sod that I am, I decided to have a midnight dumpster-dive (it's my own bin, after all) and see if I could identify which house the garbage originated from. Lo and behold, I found just what I wanted and more: a complete delivery invoice with their name and address, parts of a personal diary, a sketchbook containing architecture coursework, bank statements, and a photocopy of their visa application! (In fact, it seems to be three girls who are the culprits, since the items in the trash have included many feminine products, and I've found personal details on all three of them. Two appear to be sisters, and all are students at a local university.)

And now I am presented with how to deal with this, once and for all.

I am sick of having to deal with their rubbish, and I intend to confront them about the issue in the morning. I'm still unsure how best to proceed, however - I don't want to involve the police if I don't have to, since it does seem like a rather trivial issue, but is there some specific legal precedent or procedure I can refer to which could support my grievance more definitively? If they are unwilling to stop dumping their garbage, what course should I take? (Please don't post any illegal suggestions, except in jest - I'm neither interested in petty retribution nor is it permitted on these forums.)

Let this also be a lesson for everyone: always shred your sensitive documents before throwing them out! You never know what creep might have too much free time and your personal details in their hands... Especially if you're dumb enough to put it right in their bin!

tl;dr version: A neighbour has been dumping their garbage into our bin and I'm sick of it, how should I proceed on confronting them about it?

for one, you should have never went through their garbage...

for one, you should have never went through their garbage; you'd not want them to do that to you so why do it to them. and then post this here on the internet... it itself a less than fair thing to do. but since you did, it was better off to at least leave out what you did find out about them. i think you should collect all those things you found, give them back, tell them what you just told us and explain to them that if it was that easy for you to gather this much info on them from their trash, how much more trouble they can get into if someone with more malicious intents and skill went through their garbage.

now, the problem itself. ideally, 1)offer and if they do want it, purchase them another bin--shows you are not just out to get them back for what they did to you but instead want to resolve the issue, grievance, whichever it is--and 2)explain to them that you have a problem with them using your garbage container and and that they put garbage in the green waste and you had to sort it out. IMPORTANT: FIRST offer and if they do want it, purchase it. THEN explain your grievance. don't forget to let them explain their side of the story--again, it shows you are not just out to get them back for what they did to you but instead want to resolve the issue, grievance, whichever it is. in the end, mature people will understand your frustrations and will offer their apology and or comply with your request that they stay away from your bin. less mature will tell you off(this is based on the fact that humans nature and then there is that i hear interesting things about how immature and weak morally teen in there are). but you have to take the risk. or they will just continue doing it. i'd say ignore it, but that won't solve anything.

now, i understand that offering to purchase them a new bin seems counter productive and counter intuitive and you'd probably not wan to do that. offer to split the cost 50/50, then? the idea is to conquer evil with good. you might end up sacrificing the price of the container, but in the end gain a better relationship with them.

yeah. but in this case, the beneficial find was the sensitive personal info. and it is a more clever title.

An interesting suggestion, however I'm afraid it's not so much a case of "conquering evil" as it is conquering plain stupidity. These people clearly do not recycle, which leaves them with much more waste than they should (while everyone else seems to manage somehow) and they seemingly don't give a damn what color bin they put their [censored] into. They are students who will probably move on before long, and most likely have zero interest in being good neighbours. At the end of the day, I'm not interested in being their friend - I just want them to respect my property, and keep their [censored] to themselves.

It may seem a bit extreme, but from looking at that picture, it seems you could drill some holes and run a small chain through the lids of each of those, and put a lock on that.

Believe me, there was a lot of grumbling across the nation when it was changed from weekly to every two, but you'd be surprised how much space gets taken up by recyclable materials. We usually fill 2-3 recycling sacks a week (no limit on those, thankfully) and maybe only one of regular garbage - which is mostly food waste, and if we had space for a compost heap we'd have even less to deal with.

Oh yeah I forgot to comment on this.

WOW! Once a week would also be (I don't know what word to use, something about rarity). less frequent;

..than polar shifts?
..a politician having a genuine thought?
..Greeks pay their taxes?
..constructive JAHO threads on a Bethesda forum?
..Rohugh in a good mood?
..the times that I actually make sense?

Oh yeah I forgot to comment on this.

WOW! Once a week would also be (I don't know what word to use, something about rarity).

We get our rubbish collected daily, except on Sundays.

Believe me, there was a lot of grumbling across the nation when it was changed from weekly to every two, but you'd be surprised how much space gets taken up by recyclable materials. We usually fill 2-3 recycling sacks a week (no limit on those, thankfully) and maybe only one of regular garbage - which is mostly food waste, and if we had space for a compost heap we'd have even less to deal with.

Oh yeah I forgot to comment on this.

WOW! Once a week would also be (I don't know what word to use, something about rarity).

We get our rubbish collected daily, except on Sundays.

Daily!? That's mind blowing... surely people where you live don't actually need such frequent trash pick-up... right? I don't think I could fill an entire bin of trash and recyclables every day if I tried. We get it picked up weekly here, and while some weeks I wish it were more like every 5 days, every single day except Sundays is way too frequent.

This is the average size I guess: http://www.blackgarbagebags.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/garbage-bags.jpg

Do you know, we actually have a constitutional right to have weekly bin collections? But then, when have our governments every bothered to do what the Bill of Rights says...

Well everyone takes out one of those black garbage bags in the morning, so we do manage to fill up at least one bag. Nothing is recycled, there is no concept of recycling here. :laugh: Well...except for my mum who recycles plastic, and once a week we get this lady who takes away all our plastic.

This is the average size I guess: http://www.blackgarbagebags.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/garbage-bags.jpg

Bring the papers/documents with you, and tell them they were in yourrubbish bin. And that sensitive documents should be shredded before being disposed of. Other folks might not be as conscientious as you. That it itself ought to be startling enough that they alter their disposal behavior.
Also inform them of the waste disposal rules, including recycling and yard/green debris.