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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to put extra black bin bag out with neighbours?

106 replies

Tate15 · 07/12/2015 19:28

Stupid three black bin bags a fortnight!

I have five this week. Neighbours have one or two black bin bags.

I think it's ok to add one of mine to their pile but my daughter thinks it would be a faux pas of the highest order!

And as such she won't be arty to helping me put the bin bags out!

Would you mind? The bags are double wrapped, no holes and only go out in the morning.

OP posts:
Headagainstwall · 07/12/2015 19:31

...ask them?

Katedotness1963 · 07/12/2015 19:32

Ask first! I had someone do this to me and when I went to add my last minute bin bag I couldn't get it in my bin because some arsehole saw I had room and put their excess in it. Tossers...

Original poster
Tate15 · 07/12/2015 19:34

Fair point about last minute bags but these are neighbours who put out bags before work in the morning. I'm a shift worker so put out bags slightly later as collection is midday.

OP posts:
LetGoOrBeDragged · 07/12/2015 19:35

I have been known to do this. We are on 3 week collections, are a big family and have far more rubbish than our retired neighbour. I leave it til the last minute though and wouldnt actually fill their bin,just drop in an extra bag if theres liads of room.

pookamoo · 07/12/2015 19:36

If you ask first then YANBU.

But why do you have 5 bin bags?

Our council gives us 1 bag a week (still on weekly collections). If you want more, you have to have an appointment with a Waste Doctor to show that you are recycling everything you possibly could, to justify them collecting more waste from you.

We have fortnightly collections for recyclables.

eurochick · 07/12/2015 20:30

With nappies I have no idea how anyone could manage just one bag per week.

LetGoOrBeDragged · 07/12/2015 20:32

It's ridiculous that families are expected to fill the same size bin as single people and couples with no dc. Bigger family = more rubbish. Hate 3 weekly collections!

BigSandyBalls2015 · 07/12/2015 20:38

An appointment with a 'waste doctor' .... please tell me you're joking Grin.

pookamoo · 07/12/2015 21:02

I am not joking. Bristol City Council. I'm not sure how effective it is, but I know someone whose job it is. It's actually very interesting.

One of the things the Waste Doctors talk to parents about is reusable nappies, eurochick

Imustgodowntotheseaagain · 07/12/2015 21:10

Ask them. If someone asked me, I'd say fine. If they assumed, I'd be pissed off.

Original poster
Tate15 · 07/12/2015 21:13

We have extra bags as we have pets and soiled animal bedding cannot go in garden waste bag and has to be disposed of in black household waste bins.

OP posts:
Damselindestress · 07/12/2015 23:14

We have extra bags for the same reason. It is probably a faux pas but we sometimes add a bag to someone else's bin. We have older neighbors who don't fill their bin and go to bed early so if we put a bag in later we know they won't need to put anything else in. I would feel too awkward asking them as I'm shy and we don't know them well. We're not allowed to have any bags outside the bin here and have fortnightly collections. We don't drive so can't take stuff to the tip and they don't accept pet bedding there anyway. I have a horror of our bin not being collected as it's too heavy and having to wait another 2 weeks, that happened once over a hot summer when we had thrown spoiled food away after our freezer broke down and we got maggots Sad. Now my priority is to get rid of the rubbish ASAP for hygiene reasons even if it is a faux pas.

Original poster
Tate15 · 07/12/2015 23:35

Damsel, I have started taking a carrier bag full of rubbish out with me every day to deposit in a public bin at the park/street/supermarket as the three bag a fortnight is not enough.

Since it was introduced I have encountered fly tipping over woodland and other areas.

OP posts:
WorraLiberty · 07/12/2015 23:39

Ask them

My neighbours are lovely like that. There are a few single older people who live across the road and they've always said we can just pop any spare rubbish in their bins.

We don't have a 3 bag rule, but once the wheelie is full that's it.

We manage fine most weeks but sometimes if we have a good cupboard clear out, we have an extra bag or two.

HoneyDragon · 07/12/2015 23:41

In my old cul de sac neighbours all asked.

Plus we all did each other's bins for holidays and it was a given that the extra space could be taken advantage off

CruCru · 07/12/2015 23:46

Oh my goodness - only three a fortnight?!?!?!? But that's impossible! I recycle everything I can and I compost and I still have at least three bags a week.

Yes - if you can, ask your neighbours. My Mum had the most passive aggressive war going with her neighbours for ages - they filled her wheelie bin with their bags, she would take them out and put them on their doorstep and then they would put them back in etc. They never spoke about it but she went on and on about it.

IMBWater · 07/12/2015 23:53

We have this problem, we have a small single wheelie bin and with DDs nappies we can easily fill that - fortnightly collections here. We live in a block of flats and one neighbour is really horrible about people putting rubbish in with hers (she's the only single person in the block) so we occasionally sneak a bag into her bin just before collection - we can see from our kitchen window when the lorry is 2 streets away so we run down, neighbour is at work so she'd never know.

Thankfully our other neighbours are understanding, ones a couple who never fill their bin and are happy for us to use theirs as long as we don't put nappies in it and the other is a single mum and her teenage and she's happy to take extra stuff to the local tip in her car when she goes.

UmbongoUnchained · 07/12/2015 23:54

Am I the only one who has no idea what you're on about?!

girlguide123 · 08/12/2015 00:02

I think it's rude to add to your neighbour's rubbish without asking first, to be honest.

Original poster
Tate15 · 08/12/2015 00:04

No wheelie bins where I live, it is three or less black bin bags left outside of each house.

It is annoying because I've only moved five minutes away and the bin men on my old route would take an extra bag or two if you had more than three, but on this route they put a massive big sticker on the bag if it is extra to the three you are allowed.

Personally, if they can see neighbours that only have one or two back bags they shouldn't mind the odd house that has for or five bags.

OP posts:
SummerNights1986 · 08/12/2015 00:26

Very rude. You can't be certain about the exact number of bags someone will put out.

Last week I put out our bags then left with the dc for school. I remembered that I'd left my purse at home so nipped back on the way to work. And whilst I was there noticed i'd forgotten one and put it out.

If i'd found that someone else had added that extra bag, meaning I couldn't, i'd be massively pissed off.

It's absolutely fine to ask op. I have scouted out peoples black bags on bin day (we also have a 3 max rule) and if we've gone over have knocked a neighbours door and asked if I could put it with theirs if they only have one or two out. I've also been asked by the nextdoor neighbour a couple of times for the same.

The answer is always yes, both ways. But at least have the courtesy to ask.

NeuNewNouveau · 08/12/2015 00:30

YABU unless you ask the neighbour first.

ReginaBlitz · 08/12/2015 00:39

Fuck them,we have an extra wheelie bin the council forgot to take when they brought our big bin, we fill that and leave it outside randomly on the street.

BrushtheHeat · 08/12/2015 00:40

Wow pooka I live in Bristol and have never heard of the waste doctor?! We have a black bin and they won't collect it if the lid won't close properly.
Not sure how impressed I'd be to get a lecture about reusable nappies from a stranger though. They're a massive outlay (cheaper over time, I guess) and not one that many people can afford on top of everything else. And that doesn't take into consideration the practicalities and time taken for washing/drying them.
In an ideal world, it would be great but I dare say their priorities should lie elsewhere. For example, if Bristol City Council improved the buses they could get more cars off the road and save the planet that way instead. Sorry guys, rant tangent over!

Damselindestress · 08/12/2015 00:40

It's a shame that people are put in this situation because of reduced collections.

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