ARGH Wheelie Bin Stress!

[AdriftAndOutOfStardust]

Eek probably made the wrong choice but too late now...

Sunday - I discover that our recycling bin is full of someone elses non-recyclable waste. We have an indoor recycling sorting system so only fill the bins the day before bin day, and recycle so much of our waste that our non-recycleables bin is usually only 2/3rds full so I empty this someone-elses-rubbish into our bin and get on with sorting the recycling. Can't help noticing that next door's-bin is full to overflowing.

Monday - bin day - all waste is collected. We get home from work to discover that our non-recyclables bin is missing. I scout up and down the road in case the bin men left it somewhere else and look out for any front gardens containing two bins, but don't see anything.

Tuesday - I report missing bin to the council website who will replace it in 10 days.

Wednesday - DH, somewhat more observant than I, notices that next door has TWO non-recyclables bins in their back garden and also a THIRD bin in the side passage next to the house.

DH's theory is that it is perfectly innocent, that one person could bring in a bin and put it in the back garden, then another member of the same household bring in a bin from the pavement not realising that this had already been done.

My theory is more distrustful of human nature, but hey. Next door's house is dark. DH decides to repatriate the spare bin from the side passage, assuming that it is ours. I brazenly label this bin with our house number.

I practice saying, all innocently "oh we assumed it just must be a mistake, we could see your bin in your garden. It's so difficult to know what's what when they all look the same isn't it?"

I disolve into self-doubt and panic. But the label is permanent so can't go back now. Spend the next couple of days hoping to avoid being seen and worrying about being confronted whenever I leave the house. It will be difficult to maintain avoiding them throughout the w/e though.

So - Was IBU?
And - do we cancel the replacement bin request or do we let the request stand so that next door can have two bins (let them have the new one)?

YANBU happened to us - and when replacement bins were places outside our house (as we could not repatriate ours) - they bloody knicked the new ones!

I went and knocked on their door and they said they "thought the council had just given out new ones" wtf?

They gave me back dirty bins, not lovely new shiny clean ones grrr

Having 2 bins won't help them much unless your council collect 2 bins per house?
Ours definately would not!

I wouldn't worry too much about them confronting you - they are hardly meant to have 3 bins so they can't really complain that "one of our 3 bins is missing and we think you have it"

They can have as many bins as they like but here you have to apply for a second bin and they wont collect it unless you are on the list. We had 2 black bins but asked if we could swap it for a second blue bin instead as we never had enough space for recyclables. We now have the most MASSIVE blue bin you can imagine, the only one I have seen in our bit if the village, so no way is anyone nicking that and claiming it was a mistake :o

Don't let them have the replacement, how many live in the house to create so much waste?

Our council collects from our close and then about an hour later collects from the main street. The main street often, especially after Christmas, gains about 10 suspiciously familiar, recently filled bins, which the bin men happily empty again. Followed by 10 of my neighbours reclaiming their misplaced empty bins.

OK I shall try and relax and stop panicking about theoretical possible confrontation situations. I can't help wondering whether they had multiple bins legitimately, but it does seems fairly unlikely doesn't it...

YANBU bin thieving bastards next door did this to me twice. Now I have new bin and old bin [with 8 inch high painted number on it]. Comes in handy for Christmas

I just waltz in through their gate and take it back when they do it. I don't think it will happen again. I was a bit scary last time they tried to take my recycling bin.

Our council let you have a maximum of 2 bins. It says so on the website. I rang up the refuse people and reported BTB neighbours for having 4 of each. I was thrilled when the lorry came and confiscated a load of them [spiteful]

I smiled at this, I'd feel exactly the same! Ridiculous, though, isn't it!

We've had a semi-similar issue with our house. We don't have bins, we just have bags. It's unlimited blue recycling bags one week, then two black bags the week after. Then back to the blue, then black, then blue...

Our NDN has refused POINT BLANK to recycle. She's a bitter, twisted, scummy crone and I cannot stand her. She will have bags upon bags of black bags, the majority of which can actually be recycled. They have stopped collecting from her house so she will leave around 11pm the night before the binmen come and deposit one of her black bags at every other house in the street. This then means that half of them have THREE black bags out, and the council will only grab two per house.

I've started handing her rubbish back to her on a weekly basis. Witch.

YANBU - bloody cheek.

My ndn nicked my bin and keeps it in his garden and doesn't even put it out on bin day! Council sent new one and now both my bind have a house number and cartoon knomes and butterfly stickers all over them. Dd1 was delighted. I look like I have issues but the bin remains

Magrat such a cheek! her, not you!

Do you have to pay for the replacement bin?

Either way, keep it, and write your number all over it again. One of our bins went missing a few weeks ago and I've been meaning to get the paint out and wrote our number on the new ones. I really must get round to doing that...

Amusingly, this afternoon there is a wheelie bin outside the neighbour's house again. I checked their back garden as I wondered whether they had just nicked someone elses bin, but no they have brought one of the back garden ones back around to the front. So they just have to make do with the two bins then.

It's so funny how things like this cause such stress? Our NDN used to take our bin - even with the house number all over it, and the pub next door used to put waste in our recycling bin in the night. I once was so wound up I cried about bloody bins

I think it was the last straw sometimes after they put a huge trampoline next to our bedroom window and people used to park in our allocated spaces. Bastards.

One of our bins goes missing at least once a month, people round here are ridiculous!! And ours all have our number on - someone up the road has written, 'stop stealing my bloody bin' on theirs!! :)

Keep the bin, I think they took it on purpose

Um... Am I missing something here? Why don't you just go and get it?

Ha, yes I did. Whoops :)

I still don't understand the problem though

The problem was that I had no proof that their "extra" bin and our "missing" bin were the same item. I was fretting that there was a possibility that they were innocent of theft and had extra ones legitimately, and that we were in fact guilty of theft by taking one of theirs with no proof that it was ours. I worked myself into a state of nerves thinking that we had done wrong and should have just waited for the replacement. I no longer think that :-)

Aaaahh, ok.

My favourite wheelie bin is on the estate near my parents. Outside the vicarage. It has JESUS SAVES painted on it in large letters. Bet their wheelie bin never gets nicked...