Is it rude to recycle your recycleables in your neighbors' recycleable bin if yours is full?

I'd ask them. That's the polite thing to do. Since it recyclables I doubt they'll object as long as you're doing it the morning of pickup after they've put all their stuff in.

I get angry when my neighbors put trash in my bin because then there's not enough room for mine. No, I have no idea who is doing it. And they'll do it after the trash is dumped and before I take the cans in, so I have no other place to put it and am stuck with it. Once it was taking up the space of half my can.

You only have pickup once a month? Is there any way to get a larger can or an extra can?

I've got the largest the city supplies. They only pick up every other week and mine is always full. I wish they'd start picking up weekly. They've now made recycling mandatory and no recyclables are to be put in the regular trash. (How they'll regulate that is anyone's guess). But I'd sure like mine recycled weekly. Of course, with the city cutting services to try to balance the budget, I don't see weekly pickups happening unless there is money to be saved.

 

I agree. I doubt they would mind as long as they have enough room for their stuff.

 

In Pittsburgh they actually sent people to check the regular Garbage for Recyclables

 

They do this in the UK as well, at least in Burnley where my house is. They will also prosecute for failing to comply with the rules.

Problem is that I don't think they consider the whole thing at all. Everything that goes in the recycling is washed in the dishwasher, as they come once a month you have to do this or things like dog food cans or tuna get really high. On the evening before recycling is picked up my wife spends hours driving 40 metres down the drive and back up again in her Citroen C3 to get the stuff down to the street then in the morning there is a special garbage truck does the rounds to pick it all up, this is probably a 16 ton truck that does maybe 8 miles to the gallon.

So overall net reduction in ozone hole is probably negative.

A friend of mine asked for a bigger bin (not the recycling one) and a lady in a suit came from the council on collection day, before the truck and she donned a pair of gloves then proceeded to empty the bin, by hand, completely and examined every item in there to see if he was putting anything in the normal rubbish that would recycle. A most peculiar site that was, extremely well dressed white collar worker up to her eyes in sh*t looking for the slightest recyclabe item so they could refuse the request.

 

in san jose where i live , we have 'unlimited recycle' pickup. if our recycle container is too big, we can just start stuffing garbage bags with extra stuff, and they will pick it up.


as long as the bag is marked recyclables. if its garbage, then you have to go to some grocery store to buy extra garbage stickers.

check your contract to see if you have a similar clause.

 

I believe it is perfectly acceptable to put your extra recycling in the neighbors bins as long as you are not limiting their use. I would be polite to knock on their door as ask if they mind.

My city has unlimited garbage pickup and no curbside recycling. The neighbor across the road routinely puts out 6 bins for 4 people. To recycle we have to go to 4 different locations. The city has a bin at the local park but they only take cans, plastic bottles, and cardboard. There is a bin at the fire department to recycle newspaper. Styrofoam goes to the local Publix store were they take foam trays and egg cartons. The closest place that takes glass is 20 miles away.

My wife and I generally send two kitchen size bags to the landfill per week with about half of that used litter from the cats.

 

Is it rude? No assuming they have put their bins out for collection.

Questions is, are you generating too much stuff, or is your neighbor recycling not enough. Better to recycle than not, but way better not to generate the material in the first place.

Re-use containers, buy in bulk, resist packaging as much as possible.

Icarus

 

A couple of years ago, our town converted to 96-gallon garbage can and the other huge can divided down the middle for recyclables (glass/cans on one side, paper on the other). I thought to myself that this was hugely overkill. Then when I saw that a neighbor down the street had somehow gotten TWO recycle bins, I thought they were nuts.

But every week when I put out my trash, I have may 5-8 gallons of trash in the huge 96-gallon trash can, but without a doubt, my paper bin is FULL every week... with all the junk mail, flyers, newspapers, egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, etc., that bin is guaranteed full every week. Now when I pass my neighbor's house with the two recyclable containers, I am appreciative of his foresight.

Regarding the original question, I would just go and ask.

 

Who cares, just as long as you recycle the stuff, go for it! You could always get a second container. In my city, recycle containers are free!!! Thay want you to recycle!!

Pat KK6PD

 

I really doubt our city has the money or the manpower to go out and inspect garbage bins at random to see if any recycling is going in them. They do provide both regular and recycling bins because the garbage trucks are all "automated" now. There is only a driver. A big mechanical arm lifts the bins to dump. So no one is inspecting anything. You have to use the city bins. They will not pick up anything that is bagged. Our local landfills are almost full so there is an aggressive campaign to recycle as much as possible. They have greatly expanded what you can put in the blue recycling. But they don't take yard waste. I wish we also had a green bin for that, but maybe someday. Right not you have to bag up your hard stuff, take it to the landfill and then empty it out of the bags yourself. But if you do, you get all of the free compost and mulch you want. You do have to bring containers for the mulch and shovel it yourself. But it's free. (They then compost the yard stuff you bring.)

 

Well, I'd either try to catch them when they're putting the can out or bringing them in and ask for a blanket permission. If there's space left over in their cans, would they mind if you filled them up the rest of the way with your overflow? I don't see the need to ask them every single week at every single instance. Just a blanket, as necessary permission.

We aren't supposed to put our cans out before 6 pm the night before pickup and have to bring them in by 6 pm the day of pickup. The 'rag and bone' people are usually up really early picking through the regular trash for anything of value way before the garbage trucks get there. I don't mind, unless they spill it all over everywhere. (That's that happened this last time. I went out to get my can and had to pick up the alley and put it back in the garbage for next time.)

 

I'm thinking a blanket agreement would probably cover this. No need to ask each time, just casually ask if it is ok the next time you see your neighbor(s) or pick a decent hour and knock on their door and ask. Its polite.

Personally, I wouldn't care at all if my neighbors put stuff in my trash or recycle containers as long as they asked. It would annoy me if they just started doing it without asking.

 

Where is the controversy? Simple ask you neighbor for permission. You act like you have never spoken to your neighbors before. If this is the case, it is a good excuse to say hi and introduce yourself.

 

Sometimes people prefer to ask simple questions and get straight answers. That may sound boring or weird to you, burritos, but that's just how some people are.

My neighbour once asked me if they could put extra garbage with ours, and I said sure. After awhile, I was sorry I'd said yes. You wouldn't believe the crap that ended up on our lawn; most of it perfectly recyclable. So, I went back and said I'd changed my mind, and explained why. I said I was proud of the fact we put out only a quarter of what was allowed, and that our responsibility should not give them license to be more wasteful. She wasn't thrilled, but understood, and her recycling-to-garbage ratio has gone way up. We're still good friends, so no harm was done.

Yet another neighbour thought it was perfectly alright to start a compost behind our back fence. After a few careful questions and some sharp observations, I figured out who it was and casually brought up the topic of composting. Funny, the piles of coffee grounds and orange peels under the tree disappeared right after that. We're still friends, too, and no compost was flung in anger.

The moral of the story is to ask first.