Yes, very rude. I'm assuming garbage collection is part of your municipal services/utilities? Around here, we have to purchase garbage stickers separately and place them on certain size garbage cans for collection. Someone cannot just stick a bag at the curb to be collected.

Dee, good question, I’ll look into that.

Bunny, no, our city prefers the bags be left on the street rather than in a bin. I guess for easier pick-up, but I’d prefer bins!

Tina, I hadn’t thought of that! Ugh!

Feathers, yes, it’s all included in our utilities bill. I like the sticker idea, wish they’d do it that way!

We found a bag of trash at the foot of our driveway, and it had broken open. Inside was some empty beer bottles, pizza boxes and … the receipt stapled to one of the pizza boxes. DH called the non-emergency police, who came, took the receipt which had the delivery address, and as we suspected it turned out some kids had a party while the parents were gone. I imagine something like that is your situation?

Bpath, that might be.

I knew you’d all have good suggestions! :)

Whoever is doing this is aware of how well you took to your NOC? And presumably expects similar treatment of other peopke’s trash?! (Sorry, no help here. Just trying to make a poor joke about a bad situation. Seriously Seriously, whoever is doing this is a creep.)

Nuts, lol! NOT — Not Our Trash.

🤣

That's is what security cameras are for. We have them for multiple properties. Similar stories of people dropping bags or using a private dumpster.

There are a few very inexpensive versions that can set up easily.

Interesting to know if it's a neighbor.

Side story: Small upstate town. DH caught a woman from around the corner dumping her trash in his dumpster. Got a photo and tenants in our building recognized her. She was a well known news reporter!

Police took the bag to her house, rang her bell and told her to stop.

Only in a small town!

DH has also found the ID by looking in the bag. Man threw out his expired driver’s license.

Good ideas, Eld.

I can imagine the reporter’s face when she was chastised by the police! 😄

Haha nuts!! I'm learning things here as garbage pickup is not included with utilities here nor do we have garbage stickers. I've never heard of garbage stickers!!

Here's a good one. My husband is a trustee at our church. We have a large commercial type garbage container at the church. It has a lock on it (rolls eyes). Someone broke lock and people add their trash to the container (again PEOPLE WHO DO NOT PAY FOR TRASH PICKUP). We now have a concrete pad for said container to sit on with a LOCKED FENCE surrounding it. It's a pain for the waste management company, but it's the only solution that seems to work. Sometimes the nerve of people just gets me!!

As for us personally, we take our own trash to a recycling center. We are uphill and leaving a bin outside for pickup would probably not be a good idea. Where/how we are situated, a bin couldn't be left at end of drive.

@eld6161 we have had the police to the church several times. Unfortunately, where the container is situated (off of parking lot - we of course don't want it too close to the building), cameras don't work well and we were told that unless we can get a clear picture of face or a license plate, the cameras are no good. Sad!

A few weeks ago someone did "doughnuts" on a recently refreshed black-top parking lot at the church. Again, not enough evidence. I cannot image those who have no respect for others' property, especially a church. (My husband did ask the police to increase their presence near the church.)

Tina, how awful!

Wasn’t there a thread here, some years ago I suppose, where someone had someone regularly dumping their trash at their fence? I can’t remember who, but it — the dumping and the thread — went on for a while.

Then there was Mike, maybe it was on Building a House, whose neighbor stole his brand new trash can. Another long goofy thread.

Bpath, that Mike thread is so funny. :D

How each area handles garbage collection is sort-of interesting.

Here in my area of NY, you have to buy brightly colored garbage tags, and either affix them to the bag itself (if it's not in a can), or to the can. Either way, if that tag isn't readily visible, the garbage trucks don't even tap the brakes as they drive by your house. I am not aware of anyone having any issues with that method of collection.

We bought a vacation home a few hours south of here, and there you contract with one of several private companies. Whatever company you contract with provides you with a huge, rolling garbage can with their company's logo clearly emblazoned on it. The cans are HUGE (IMO) and easily hold 3 or 4 full sized garbage bags. You don't get charged per bag, it's just a flat fee for whatever fits in your can.

However, everyone knows that it's a flat fee per container. And most people put their containers out at night. So, some chaos ensues.

Some people are too cheap to pay, so they drive around at night and look for a container that isn't full and throw their trash in there. Our community's private Facebook page often sees people asking for permission to do this on trash collection day! (The stories are something. "I had a party and have more garbage than will fit in my can. Can I use yours?" Or, "I did some remodeling and have some extra trash, does anyone have some room...."

Other people walking their dogs throw their used/full dog poo bags into anyone's trash can sitting out for pick up. That one is beyond disgusting, IMO - and has lead to some half entertaining and half horrifying spats online between offenders and people who find nothing wrong with throwing their dog's bagged poo in someone else's trash cans.

Patrice, it is interesting!

I did live in a rural area years ago that had a system exactly like the one at your vacation home.

Our last house, no bins were allowed … and one neighbor’s dog had lots of fun ripping open everyone’s bags every trash day. That neighbor also had a ”lost and found” box in her garage for anyone missing things to go through. The dog stole socks, shoes, flip flops, etc out of everyone's garages. 😂

The thread BPath is talking about on Building a Home forum is legendary.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5478264/neighbor-swaps-their-used-trash-can-for-your-brand-new-one-wwyd#n=274

I was initially sympathetic to his plight. We keep our cans cleaned out so they don't stink - and I too would be ticked if someone took my well-maintained can and left me their stinky filthy one. However I don't think I would have elevated it to quite the level that he did.....

That's unusual to put out bags vs. totes. Bags are vulnerable to critters. Our city has the robotic-armed trash trucks that just dump the totes. We also have gone away from plastic trash bags for yard waste. We have to neatly stack it, or put it in reusable "burritos", open 32 gallon totes, or paper bags for leaves. Although I applaud this environmentally, it is a bit of a pain.

Is there a private or rural neighborhood where pickup is not included? Maybe someone is dropping it off on their commute. My niece lived on a street where everyone had to arrange their own trash collection, so people had different days depending on which company they went with.

That would bug me too! So rude. Plus we would get charged for that extra bag and it's expensive!

We have a problem of illegal dumping in our area -- and we don't even live in the country. somebody once left a washing machine in our yard, a common problem around here. what really makes me mad is that these idiots don't seem to know that the city will pick it up for free. OR they could have sold it for scrap. UGH.

Tina, my DH has caught many incidents. The latest wasna utility truck crashing into the back a parked car. Of course thebneighbor asked DH is it was caught camera.

What People don't understand is that it isntime consuming for DH to wind the recording back, even with an estimated time frame.

Maybe a professional can figure out a way to get surveillance back there?

I'd love for you to get cameras.

If you want to be direct, download this image from shutterstock and make a sign. Not sure it will deter him or her though.

"Don't steal my sack o' dough"

Thanks, all!

Gs, no, we’re in a very urban area now, but stranger things have happened! We have totes for recyclables, but not trash bags. The guys ride the back of the truck and jump down to grab bags.

Seattle, omg! A washing machine! What jerks!

Nicole, maybe we could do one by the front door — the street would be in line of it, I think.

Jojo, love that! :D I need one for people letting their dogs pee in my flowerbeds, too.

Here’s one I see in my neighborhood:

Thanks for the link to the stolen garbage can thread. Just killed half an hour reading through that one.

My biggest problem is dog walkers throwing their poo bags in my cans after thentrash was picked up. I fish it out and dump it in the gutter, where they will hopefully see it and take it away.

Bpath, your image isn’t showing. This board is so glitchy! (ETA: Now I see it! Love.) :D

Ded, that is so, so gross. What a rude thing to do.

This makes me so grateful for the way our trash collection is handled. We have large bins -- one for trash and one for recycling. They come once a week and collect from those as well as another run for yard trimmings, leaves, etc bundled or bagged in paper bags that get composted and don't go to landfill. We also have large item pick up for things that don't go in the bins -- including furniture, appliances and mattresses. I think they require the coolant to be removed from refrigerators and freezers, but most folks have them taken away by the folks delivering a replacement. There are a handful of things they do not pick up and most of them, along with excess yard or recycling, can be taken to a community collection site. It is all part of the annual assessment and you are only charged for excess trash placed in bags outside your bin -- $1 (last I heard) for a bright pink tag placed on each bag sold at the grocery store courtesy desks or the community central office. We've never had to use a tag.

Our house is one of the last houses on our street to get collected. If the trucks come early or change their routine, we have a couple of neighbors who will roll their bin over to our side of the street to get picked up -- and we've probably had a bag tossed into our bin once or twice. I don't mind as long as it is bagged and not leaking. Maybe I should -- one neighbor has started using a service to come and clean their trash cans. They must have extra stinky trash.

We have had a problem in the past with tossed pizza boxes, beer and liquor cans and bottles -- sometimes bagged but often not; Usually on weekends along the roads near entrances to neighborhoods. Most prevalent near holidays, spring break and as the end of the school year approaches -- I'm sure underage drinking explains most of it. Perhaps some folks got caught with receipts or such -- they seem to be finding trash cans now. Every neighborhood has at least one park nearby and they all have multiple trash cans.

Put a couple lawn chemical flags in your garden, dog owners would pull their dogs away from chemical treated lawns/gardens. I had the same problem at our old house in a crowed college town. My backyard neighbor used to save those flags for me.

You might need a Ring camera. We have cameras on our homes. I have seen strangers doing strange things. A couple months ago a woman in a van stopped in front of my property, took a pic of my gates. Ask your neighbors, maybe they have security cameras that captured the activity.

I use a lawn fertilizing company, supposedly organic, and the dogs just pee on the flags. Maybe I need some with that yucky poison face on them.

Suero, your DH is my hero. :D

Lascatx, I’m moving to your street!

Summers, thank you, great idea. Hopefully they wouldn’t pee on the signs like on ded’s street. :D

@Jilly...people install cameras like "candy", now-a-daz. One of my renters mounted a camera above the cat box to see which one was no longer using it. I can't believe she told me "that"! ha ha

Ewwwww ...... and just after that organ harvesting scare.

Nicole, ha! :D

Zalco … right?! I do not want to open that bag!

🤣

@eld6161 we have had professional companies come out, but so far no one has had a good solution. my husband has another company coming soon. Fingers crossed!

When we were building our carport all kinds of whacko used our dumpster. A rusted electric bicycle that looked like it had been run over by a garbage truck and a wing back chair were the largest items. One day I was on our screen porch and saw an older man in a white minivan stop by our driveway. He gets out of his van and proceeds to walk towards dumpter with a drive-thru bag in his hand. I said "Hey, don't thrown that in our dumpster" and he THREW it in ANYWAY! So I yelled "Thanks, Dick" Yes, it felt good.

@Jilly I think you need to go open the bag and report back to us ASAP.

Allison, I want to join you in kicking that man’s arse! What gall! Ooo, that makes me mad. Love your parting words to him. 😄

I don’t want to open it! I think I saw garbage juice leaking out the bottom. 🤢

Jinx, Eww to garbage juice. Bleh!

As for moving to my street, I would welcome you (probably any of you). I have 2 houses in mind - they could use better neighbors. LOL

Lascatx, I am so ready to move, wish I could start packing now! We’ve got to stay put a bit.

But we spent yesterday out at my dad’s place, and omg, I miss having land around me! It’s so beautiful and peaceful out there. :)

If this happened more than once I'd put some plastic gloves on & take some scissors to gently cut open the top where you can tie it back, and take a peek inside & see if there's a name on some paper. I'd look them up, and wait until it happens again, and do the same thing. If it's from the same person I suppose you could contact them but they may be Russian Oligarchs. ;)

People out here burn their trash or have their own dump way down in the pasture. We rented a dumpster that's emptied every two weeks. No way do I want to burn trash in windy OK.

Oak, DH said he’s going to take a peek when he gets home. 👀

Lascatx, our municipality also offers the option to "rent" a large garbage bin from the waste management company. It's a great option for larger families. But it's a fixed monthly cost whether you use it or not, and I don't have enough garbage each week to warrant it. Even when my kids were home, we'd never fill up anything that big on a weekly basis, and our recycling is free. So I use the "sticker" open, which is cheaper, and supply my own smaller garbage can. Our yard refuse varies, and I always have to look up when/if I need a sticker, which I just put on one of those paper lawn bags from the big box stores.

What we also have is a pretty reliable "picker" system, if that's what you could call it. People regularly leave at the curb, the night before garbage day, items like furniture, small appliances, etc., that aren't worth donating but still may have some value to someone, and there are people that will come by and pick up. If the item is not gone by morning, just put a garbage sticker on it to be hauled away. I've done this with an old vacuum that stopped working, as well as a nightstand that was in my friend's mother's assisted living room. After she passed, I was helping my friend clean out her belongings, and was going to donate it for her. Neither Salvation Army or Goodwill would take it, so I left it at my curb the night before garbage collection, and it was gone within an hour. The ultimate recycle.

Feathers, that’s a great system, I like the picker thing.

Ok, DH peeked, it’s yard waste. Branches, weeds, etc … so light the wind blew it to us. It’s just weird that it stopped exactly in our trash spot instead of heading down the street. Mystery solved. Nothing horrifying (unless clippings were put on top to disguise the body parts). 😆

that's a relief!

RE: the picker thing....at my last house I could not believe the things which were picked up, and there was a lot I put out, especially when I was getting ready to move. The strangest ever was when I remodeled the bathroom and the toilet was gone in about a half hour!

Seattle, that’s the scene I was thinking of. :D

Indigo Rose, that’s funny!

Indigo Rose, in my area MCM FB group, people will post spottings of toilets and sinks put out to the curb, because they are usually vintage and a color. And someone will usually pick it up!

Jinx, what a relief. Indigo, if it was an old toilet it could be that it flushes the way old toilets did before the saving water thing began. My bathroom toilet is 40 years old and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Salvage yards will seek out old plumbing fixtures too - not just for vintage fixtures but also for parts no longer available.

We get a lot of things picked up from the curb too. The flea market and other sellers know when the various neighborhoods have collection and do a drive through. Not always, but enough that it seems folks will put things out without calling for a large item pick up.

sheesh... now the spammers are resurrecting the trash posts. How appropriate.