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Original poster

To have put my rubbish in the neighbours bin

209 replies

Cantheowneroftheredcorsapleasemovetheircar · 14/01/2026 00:04

The people opposite me, who were tenants, moved out just a couple of days before Christmas.
The house doesn't have a "to let" sign or anything up yet, and there's definitely noone living there. However, today was bin day and someone, presumably the owner, had been round and put the wheelie bin out ready last night.
The binmen come at 7am.
At 6:45am, I had the idea of maybe adding a bag of my rubbish to their black bin, if it wasn't full, as I am still trying to catch up from Christmas and have extra.
I nipped over the road, had a peek and there was nothing but one single Tesco carrier bag of rubbish in there.
I went back inside, tied up my own full bin bag of rubbish from my kitchen bin and carried it over the road. By this time, I could hear the bin lorries already coming so I know noone was going to be using that space in that bin.
I then took the bin back up their drive for them.
I went back inside, very pleased with myself for now having completely empty bins.
DH was horrified and said it was very cheeky behaviour and very embarrassing. He really hopes noone saw.

Was it cheeky and embarrassing?

OP posts:
Single50something · 15/01/2026 18:01

bullywee · 14/01/2026 03:14

Some people are just weird about things like this. When I moved into my current house I had lots and lots of boxes from moving and from deliveries. Both my neighbour and I have separate bins but all 8 bins (general, paper, food, tins) are kept in the shared alley. I asked the then neighbours who didn't put their paper bin out of they'd mind me putting some boxes in their empty and unused bin to get rid of the boxes quicker. Absolutely not was the answer. 🙄

Our old neighbours were v fussy about bins. He would move other people's bins if he felt a little too close to his collection point 😀

Zoec1975 · 15/01/2026 17:57

Did they have a ring doorbell:/

MyMiniMetro · 15/01/2026 17:57

It’s cheeky but not wrong, you waited until the last possible moment. Just remember to take your partner’s sensibilities into account in the future and don’t do it again.

Snakebite61 · 15/01/2026 17:57

Cantheowneroftheredcorsapleasemovetheircar · 14/01/2026 00:04

The people opposite me, who were tenants, moved out just a couple of days before Christmas.
The house doesn't have a "to let" sign or anything up yet, and there's definitely noone living there. However, today was bin day and someone, presumably the owner, had been round and put the wheelie bin out ready last night.
The binmen come at 7am.
At 6:45am, I had the idea of maybe adding a bag of my rubbish to their black bin, if it wasn't full, as I am still trying to catch up from Christmas and have extra.
I nipped over the road, had a peek and there was nothing but one single Tesco carrier bag of rubbish in there.
I went back inside, tied up my own full bin bag of rubbish from my kitchen bin and carried it over the road. By this time, I could hear the bin lorries already coming so I know noone was going to be using that space in that bin.
I then took the bin back up their drive for them.
I went back inside, very pleased with myself for now having completely empty bins.
DH was horrified and said it was very cheeky behaviour and very embarrassing. He really hopes noone saw.

Was it cheeky and embarrassing?

Crime of the century 🙄

CandidRaven · 15/01/2026 17:54

If its getting emptied any minute anyway I don't see the problem

sassyclassyandsmartassy · 15/01/2026 17:54

In the circumstances you esxplain, with the bin lorry coming down the road, fine, however, as an agent there is nothing bloody worse than rocking up to do an inventory right before someone moves in to find some CF has put rubbish in a bin that should be left empty for the new tenant to make their move in easier. Luckily its a rare occurrence!

anditmakesmesmile · 15/01/2026 17:51

If you tip the binmen properly at Christmas, they tend to overlook an overfilled bin the following year...

SeashellDREAMS · 15/01/2026 17:46

What makes the difference between 'being cheeky' and not being, is that you knew no one was there, you looked inside, very little there, took your bag over and still nothing extra there as you heard the truck. You'd likely never have availed yourself of another resident's bin had they been actually living there.
Now that would have given your DH something legit to feel embarrassed about, and it wouldn't have gone down well with your neighbour either!

MrsWallers · 15/01/2026 14:01

We do this all the time, me and my neighbours and no one minds at all. We produce a very small amount of landfill so do it to reduce the number of 5 bins per household put out and blocking the pavement: cardboard, plastics, landfill, green waste and food waste . We all try to fill our garden bins too and offer any empty space to neighbours given that we pay an extra annual subscription of £104 (easier than going to the tip) on top of very high council tax to have them emptied!

parkezvous · 15/01/2026 13:56

I always do this! There’s 3 of us in a row and we all use each others if we have more to get rid of! YANBU DH is mad!

Emmz1510 · 15/01/2026 13:42

It’s fine, your partner is overreacting! There was plenty space and you literally could see the bin lorry coming. Generally speaking I don’t think there is anything wrong with using someone else’s bin! I’d probably ask though. But in the circumstances you describe, there is no issue.

newrubylane · 15/01/2026 13:39

I mean, I think it's fine. But when I moved out of a rental once the landlord was very insistent that I had to leave the bins empty. So I hope the departed tenants don't get into trouble for this!

Ballycastle · 15/01/2026 13:31

It's fine IMO

Northernladdette · 15/01/2026 13:11

He needs to get a grip and worry about things that really matter 🫤

Ladygodalmighty · 15/01/2026 00:48

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

It's her husband's reaction that is causing her stress. The OP was feeling quite pleased with herself until he voiced his opinion!

CharlotteStreetW1 · 14/01/2026 18:04

BringBackCatsEyes · 14/01/2026 08:42

That's quite different to OP's situation.

Show quote history

I know. I thought my last paragraph acknowledged that.

I was responding to someone saying they didn't think putting stuff in other people's bins [in general] was cheeky.

dizzydizzydizzy · 14/01/2026 15:53

This is an absolute non-issue. You have not done any harm because the house is empty. In fact, quite the opposite, you have been a good neighbour by bringing their bin back in.

Henriella · 14/01/2026 15:50

By!

Henriella · 14/01/2026 15:43

Daysgo · 14/01/2026 13:20

In Ireland, pay by weight in place for a good few years for your three bins ie general bin , food and light garden waste and paper and plastics.

Edited

I’m in Ireland and don’t pay be weight so it must depend where you are.

ArtTheClownIsNotAMime · 14/01/2026 13:43

I don't like randoms doing it because once someone put some non-recyclable takeaway rubbish in my recycling bin and the binmen refused to take it. But when my neighbours ask I have no problem as they aren't idiots.

FinallyHere · 14/01/2026 13:38

Asking the neighbour (in this case whoever put the bin out for collection) just seems like a neighbourly thing to do

I have no problem with our neighbours using our bins but absolutely appreciated that they asked us first to check that it didn’t inconvenience us. Decades have now passed and I have no idea how often they might have used our bins.

Our relationship with them remains cordial. It’s good to be able to help each other out on occasion.

Why wouldn’t you just ask before presuming ?

Daysgo · 14/01/2026 13:20

In Ireland, pay by weight in place for a good few years for your three bins ie general bin , food and light garden waste and paper and plastics.

IngridBurger · 14/01/2026 13:15

I hate the idea of paying by weight. It incentivises fly tipping and littering.

Namechange568899542 · 14/01/2026 12:35

Totally fine. We have a house on our street that has sat empty for over a year, and will likely sit for a lot longer as the owner is still alive but in long term care. We went to put some rubbish in their bin the other day and the other neighbour had got there before us Grin it will stop as soon as the house is moved into so I don’t see the issue. One tiny bin for a whole family and collections now only every two weeks have been absolutely painful.

My other neighbour also lets us use his bin if it’s not full on bin day. He leaves for work early in the morning and bin men don’t come til late afternoon so he tells us to just dump whatever in his bin on that day if there’s space 🤷‍♀️

CarlaH · 14/01/2026 12:20

These mentions of paying by weight is a bit of a concern. What's to stop a less than pleasant neighbour dumping their rubbish in your bin under cover of darkness.