Can't think of anything right now, except that I'm ticked off for you big time.

My girlfriend had the same problem at her vacation house. She bought stickers to place on the garbage can that read: Property under surveillance. then she mounted 2 fake cameras nearby - one faced the driveway the other was up at the house. The cameras were fake but had a battery operated flashing red light - which made it look real. She said it didn't eliminate the problem but it did reduce it.

And I'd be annoyed too.

I'm betting their names and addresses are in the interloper's trash. I can think all kinds of not-so-funny-to-them things to do with that, from calling them and telling them you found their lost property, to bringing it to a public place where the sheriff would be likely to find it.

Not everyone would do this but I would: I'd start a thread on my local Next-door about the problem, take pictures of the trash with the interlopers name in your trash can, and post them.

Don't put the cans out until morning?

We owned a business and had the same problem of people dumping their trash in our container. DH would take a bag out, open it and everyone he did had a name and address in it. He'd get in the phone book, look up the person and give them a call. I think when they answered he started with "I think you lost something and I found it".

Of course, now with cell phones you probably couldn't find their phone number BUT you could also give the trash to the police (depending on what area you live in -- we're small town rural so it would work) and they could contact the person and return the trash. Or, if you're really brave, you could return the offending trash in person -- leave it on their porch!

Oh that would make me mad too. We live on a private road and sometimes people dump their trash out here in the middle of the night including an old freezer one time. Of course, we and the neighborsthen have to deal with it including having to pay fees to take big stuff like th freezer to the dump. Peopla can be so rude, inconsiderate and thoughtless.

Would it be possible for you to wait until morning to put the cans out for pickup? I be tempted to give the cans back and take my own trash to the dump periodically just to deprive others of using my cans for free.

I would consider putting signs up saying something like I found your trash in my can! Next time it will be delivered back to you. Or hey trashy person keep your trash in your own can! To make the point that you know what they are doing.

I See you with your trash stash! Keep away!

Are you referring to a dumpster like this?

We have had that issue as well. I like the idea of opening their trash and finding their address. Then you can file a police report on them for theft of services.

That would drive me crazzzzy !!! I'd print up some kind of a sticker that says something to the effect of " Propery of your name . For private use only . Use by any other party will be reported to police " .

That's not really what I'd like to say .....*evil grin* ...... I assure you it would include words like &%*@^)* and &%#!(^#%

We have a commercial/residential building and we pay for the garbage pick up. For years it was fine until we noticed the same as you. My DH put up cameras. We caught quite a few people. One woman in particular, we notified the police as she was doing it on a regular basis. The police went to her house and when they explained why they were there she claimed that she picked up litter and that is what she threw in. But they then brought out her big bag of garbage. The funny part was that she has a decent job in town.

I would get cheap security cameras. They don't have to be high end, just good enough so that you can recognize the people doing this.

ETA; this dumpster now has a lock and only tenants and the garbage service has the key.

We had a citizen of our small town who did not want to pay for trash pick up. He put his trash in other city owned trash cans. They opened it, found his address in his trash, and charged or threatened to charge him with theft of services.

In many areas, putting refuse in someone else's trash container is a law violation of some kind, a misdemeanor I suspect.

Years ago we had a battery operated motion detector thing that if something broke the beam of light a very loud siren would go off. Maybe you could find something like that to put by your trash can. IF there were a way to have something scarey on a strong spring pop up when the person opened the trash can lid, that might be a fun idea. I'd take all items with names and addresses to the police and let them deal with it.

Our container isn't a dumpster like the photo above, it's a very large container with a hinged lid. If I can make a determination what time they will be picking up the trash, if it's later on in the morning I could keep it up next to the house until the morning, but sometimes they roll in early and then I'd have all that garbage until the next pick-up day. The container is large but I still don't want to be used by somebody too cheap to pay for their trash service. You know, if someone would come and explain that they were really in financial straits and close to losing everything or old and on a fixed income, if they asked if they could piggy-back on me I would probably let them but not someone who does it in stealth like this.

I have to follow up and mention that there is a difference to me between trash and an occasional small item like a soda can. I used to live on a street one block from the high school and was constantly fuming about the litter problem. Sometimes I would find a soda can or fast food wrapper in my trash can, I would rather the students pitched it in the can than throw it on the ground.

We've been using those for several years (we have 3: blue for recycling, green for food waste, black for garbage). Every Thursday both green and blue are picked up, and every other Friday the black is picked up. We keep all three inside the yard next to the house and only bring them to the back lane for pickup late the night before the truck comes to empty them. We only bring them back there when they are full, so if anyone thinks they can add more to ours, good luck.

My dad found trash dumped on his land. He went through it and found a name and address. The sheriff's office took it from there.

Today was to be the first pick up with the new containers. The service began on Monday. So, after one day, the garbage hauler is behind. I wonder what it might be like next week. I live in Florida and we get pick up twice a week; and now with a container that is twice as big.

That is just the garbage, the recyclables are to be picked up on Friday. It had been a Tuesday for recyclables, but they skipped several Tuesdays because of Christmas and New Year's Day. No discount to us! They did not pick up, yet we are stung with the bill, no matter.

Our trash gets picked up so early I wouldn’t know now If there was something extra in there or not. What REALLY makes me mad is when the dog walkers toss their plastic bag of dog poo in my empty cans after the trash was collected.

I think the OP is referring to the large 30- 60- or 90-gallon containers. Where we live in unincorporated Sacramento County, you have 3 containers - black for garbage, blue for recyclables, and green for green waste. There is no difference in monthly cost for any of the three sizes of blue or green containers, and you can even have a second container at no extra charge. For the black garbage containers, the charge varies according to the size (the larger the size, the higher the cost), and an additional black container does cost extra.

The black garbage containers are picked up every week. The blue and green containers alternate weeks.

Jim, that would be frustrating to miss pickups but still be charged for them. Here, the collectors pick up even if it's a holiday. Christmas and New Year's included.

"Be careful about putting your dog poo into my garbage can, especially when it's empty!".

"I have a dust pan/rubber gloves and a big plastic bag to grab it quickly so I can follow you home to set/spread it on your front/door/step/car!".

("Maybe even - the dog: the instrument of your aggression?!").

o j

My family has a tenant who freely admits that she takes her trash to others' dumpsters. She'd probably throw it out on a country road if she couldn't find a convenient dumpster. As frustrating as it is to find someone else's trash in your can, ritaweeda, you are probably performing a community service.

Years ago, moved to a smaller town to start my teaching career. I was told to leave my trash bags out..I got a bill and never could figure out who they knew where to send it as I never told them. It was an apartment complex. Turns out they would look through the trash for a name/address. Maybe they or you should try looking for who it is. After you know that the possibilities are vast.

The fake security cameras and a sign are probably the easiest. I was thinking something that beeps loudly when the can is opened, but of course YOU have to open it and so does the sanitation truck.

Once we found a bag of trash on our lawn--empty beers and a couple of pizza boxes, with the receipt attached. DH called the police, who got the address off the pizza delivery slip, went to the home, and sure enough some teens had had a party while the parents were out of town, and had disposed of the evidence in our yard.

I have no solution for you...but.....I am surprised to learn that people have stuff with their names in the garbage, particularly when they are disposing of it illegally.

"I am surprised to learn that people have stuff with their names in the
garbage, particularly when they are disposing of it illegally"

Don't be surprised at what kind of dumb things dumb people do. There are countless instances of bank robbers writing their notes "Don't make any rash movements, empty your cash drawer and give me the money", etc using the back side of their own checks or deposit slips. Complete with their names and addresses printed on the other side.

I think snakes in a can might work. you open the lid and the snakes in the can all pop open and they get snakes in their faces. Not real snakes mind you. Or my favorite go-to thing for scaring people it is you could set up a water thing. but maybe your garbage guys would stop coming to your place if that were the case.

One of my client lives one street over from a very busy street and is constantly cleaning up other people's trash. She puts the trash out early in the morning as required and takes it in right after work but still they managed to throw garbage into the can before she gets home.

While it would be irritating to pay for disposing another's trash if we had the bins, garbage bags so far, I would rather they put the garbage in the bin poop or no poop than the dump it where it would not be picked up. So far garbage is covered under our taxes so no individual charge as such for collection of trash and what they do pick up on recyclables. Having had a one block side road used as a dumping ground I have seen what happens when people decide to just put trash on the side of the road.

I agree that it's better to have the garbage put in the containers by a cheapskate than to dump it on the side of the road but I still don't like it. When we lived in a different county here in FL they started putting the garbage service cost on the property taxes, man, you could hear all the freeloaders complain because they were then forced to pay for it! I was always suspicious that the next-door neighbor didn't pay for their garbage service there, too but I had no way to prove it. They always had their trash cans and bags real close to ours on trash day. They should just go ahead and do that here but with all the rural households around here they would probably have a county commissioner hanging party down at the courthouse if they did it.

I was lucky enough to see the neighbor putting his trash in my dumpster. After he went inside, I got his bag of trash and sat the bag on the hood of his brand new car. Spiteful? yes, but it never happened again.

I've never thought about someone doing that! That's very nervy! I have no answer for you though.

Notify the trash company! You could put a certain sticker on the bags that are yours, and let them know this. They WILL check the bags to see who else is using your receptacle. I've been through this.

At the other house, a neighbor used to use ours, and DH allowed it. One of the garbage men saw him running over to put his bag in our bin, and notified the main office. We were "served notice" as was the neighbor. If it continued, they would no longer provide service to us, and the neighbor would receive a fine. I believe it was for Theft of Services.

We have the big rolling totes that are picked up weekly, live in smallish tract housing, and it is a requirement that all houses have trash pick up- though if you don't pay, they don't pick up--- and we still have this problem from time to time.

We don't put our trash out until the night before or the day of, and it still bugs me when someone loads the top full on the garbage--- sometimes I take another bag out on garbage day and can't fit it in my own dang bin!

I don't mind if one of our neighbors needs a little extra room for extra trash here and there, but just ask.

This may sound weird and I don't know if it would work, but when it is windy here, our trash cans blow open. DH has gotten in the habit of putting a small piece of masking tape on the bins to hold them closed. When pick up comes, the tape breaks off. Whenever it's windy and he does this, no one will bother to open the bins to look for recyclables or dump trash. I guess if they are that lazy, sometimes a little tape will send them a few feet down the road to another bin?

Our city talked of city trash service (now it is private contract) and the cost would be added to your water bill. Their hope was that those who didn't pay for trash service and never got picked up and let the trash pile up in back would get it picked up since they paid for it. But if people are lazy they still have to move it from the back of the house to the front to get it picked up. BTW, our former neighbor's trash bin (a big one) stood at the curb 24/7 -- I guess when they put a bag in they walked out front and put it in! Instead of putting it in in the bin in the back where it belonged and then wheeling it out front once a week and back again. It drove us nuts!

My city went to the use of those bins a couple years ago. They gave everyone two ginormous containers, one for trash, one for recycle. But, they also had/have small and medium sized containers that you can request in place of the large ones. If your city has a similar setup, and you don't need the large container but could fill a smaller one, you might discourage the more polite interlopers when they see your can is filled.

Maybe, after the truck has empited all the cans, put your neighbors cans in a hard to find place, like inside your garage or hidden in the backyard, so they will (hopefully) assume the can was stiolen. May alert them enough to make them stop.

I'm very glad I don't have to deal with any of this. I live in a rural area and garbage/recyclables are taken to dumping stations, there are plenty of them and they are convenient.

I would also wait to take out the bins until the neighbors have gone to work, that's probably when they're "sharing" with you.

Vics, are you sure you meant to suggest stealing the neighbor's cans? That would be a very bad idea...

As annoying as I'd find it that someone isn't paying their own way, I would imagine they might just dump it roadside or elsewhere if they couldn't find an easy/free way to dispose of it. So as long as I had room in my can, I'd probably feel, like others have said, that I was doing something extra for the environment.

In my neighborhood, one neighbor doesn't pay for service and uses others cans once in a while (with permission, she's a good neighbor in many ways. What I really dislike is that she will burn garbage once in a while, too. I'd rather she used my cans.

I guess, since it costs you the same regardless if you're half or completely full, it shouldn't matter? It's the principle though. I hear you!

There is no trash pickup where i live; we have to take our trash to the dump. We pay an annual landfill tax and also have to pay gate fees of so much per can when make a trip to the dump. When people leave their trash on our road and we clean it up including taking it to the dump we have to pay more than we would if it was just our trash. Things like freezers, matresses, tires, etc., cost an additional fee which is much higher than what is charged per can. When people are so inconsiderate that they dump their trash on private property, they not only cost us the time it takes to clean it up, they also cost us money. It's more than annoying. Next time this happens, ill look and see if i can find something with a name and address on it that identifies the dumper.

Not our property, this is a photo I took while on a drive. This is what illegal dumping looks like and why it is so annoying to property owners. Apparently, the sign was not much of a deterrent.

Our garbage fee is build into our property tax. There are no fees or restrictions at the regular garbage/recycling sites. Our county landfill is free, up to 1,000 lbs. per month. After a bad storm they do wave the weight restrictions.

A couple of years ago the municipality provided us with two big bins with bars on the side that an arm from the recycling and garbage trucks reach out to grab and hoist to dump into their bins.

A hundred dollars a year is added to our tax bill.

The recycling bin, that tapers slightly and has rounded corners is about 4 feet high and 3 feet across at the top, and has a pair of wheels not quite a foot high.

The garbage bin is somewhat smaller, with smaller wheels.

Neither is much fun to push/drag down a muddy or snowy lane about 500 feet long.

As I produce little refuse, by the time food and other waste goes to compost, and quite a bit to the large recycling bin, and metals for hauling to the scrapyard ... there's not a lot for the garbage bin, so the bins don't go down to the roadside very often.

Honesty rather compels me to admit that some of the waste goes into a pile out between the equipment parking lot and the field to be burned, occasionally (a couple of times a year). Seldom related to weiners and/or marshmallows.

ole joyful

Our container is very large and unwieldy to push. I'm 65 and although I manage it's not easy over a crushed lime-rock drive 175 feet away to the road. I don't know what these more elderly people are going to do about it that live way off the road out here. And there are some that live on private roads off the county roads that the trucks won't drive on. So if they don't have a pickup or some kind of conveyance that they can get this large container on they are in a pickle. We waited this past pick-up day and didn't put it out there the night before like we used to - waited until the next morning early - I checked and there was no-one else's garbage in it. Hoping they won't go to other extremes like dumping their garbage on the side of the road now. We do occasionally burn our mail and documents that are normally shredded but I don't like the smell of burning food waste.

Rita, someone mentioned upthread that they put masking tape on their can to keep the lid from blowing. That just might be your easiest solution. Some people really will be deterred by that.

"Our container is very large and unwieldy to push."

If a literal reading of your comment is appropriate, try pulling it instead of pushing it. It will most certainly be easier.

If I've misunderstood, never mind.

We pay for our trash pick up. We live in a vacation area, lots of cabins and cottages. Before we moved here permanently we would take our trash back home to dispose of, no big deal.

DH doesn’t put our can out until the morning of trash day. Between extra bags being dumped in our can or bears or other critters getting into it, we find that works best for us.

But, I have gone to get gas and see that those trashy people fill up the cans at the gas station too!