To throw half a rice cake into strangers bin?

[Honeybuney]

I was on my way home from the school run with my 18 month old and older child. Baby had a ricecake with he threw onto the floor, out of the pram. I was in an alleyway type of street with no public bins. I picked up the rice cake and threw it into a wheelie bin which was partially full. As I was doing this, the lady whose house it was, was on her way out. She asked me what I was doing and I explained.

She asked me to take the rice cake out of her bin. Which I did not and continued walking. As I walked off, she was shouting and being quite aggressive. I was with my two kids so just ignored. But was I wrong?

I wouldn't have asked you take it out of my bin but I also wouldn't put my rubbish in a strangers bin. Drives me mad when I see other people's rubbish in ours.

Shouldn't have thrown it in her bin.

How embarrassing for that woman to be so upset about something so inconsequential.
Better in the bin than be left on the ground to attract rats.
Don't overthink it. Some people are weird.

I wouldn't have shouted but would have tutted in my head. It's a pet peeve!

You should have taken it home or put it in a public bin. I wouldn't have asked you to remove it but some councils can be very strict about what goes in your bin so I can understand why she might feel like that. You had a whole pram you could have put it somewhere until you got home.

Imagine having so little going on in your life that this bothers you. Ignore her. Bins belong to the council. As long as it was the right bin for what you put in it (e.g. not a recycling bin) just ignore her.

I have a friend who routinely does this, ie has a snack when out and puts the leftovers into people's bins. I think it is really cheeky myself but never say anything to her. Likewise, I think you were wrong to do it (should have taken it home with you, obviously not just left it to attract rats as another poster suggested was the only other possibility) but if I had been the owner of the bin, I wouldn't have said anything. It isn't worth making a fuss about.

Fair enough. I see some people saying I should have taken it home. I’ll note that for next time. It was in the right bin. I personally wouldn’t mind anyone putting something in my bin. As long as I wasn’t something like dog shit.

The ground is outside.
The floor is inside.
Take stuff home and put it in your own bin.

When I lived in Edinburgh there were times when the council refused to empty my bin and put a sticker on it saying I'd put the wrong stuff in it because randomers had dumped stuff in it after I'd put the bin out the evening before.

It's a bin, you had some rubbish, it shouldn't be that complicated, but it often seems to be.

Yes you were wrong but i wouldn't have minded if you'd popped it in my bin. Bins are owned by councils, not householders. But bins allocated to households are not for public use at all.

It's normally bags of dog poop i have on bin day - i would never, ever put dog poop in anyone's bin. And i think people would agree with me that it would be bang out of order to do so.

So the principle is the same. It's just the assumption you made that it would be ok without even asking her.

Bit like that recent thread where some folks think it's fine to let their kids walk along walls of private gardens.

Our bin men wouldn't take our bin if it had a rice cake in it. They a proper jobs worths. Food waste goes in the food waste bin. I would have to fish out the rice cake and I'd be pissed because I don't want to touch someone else's half eaten food. Take your waste home with you.

If she only puts bagged rubbish in bin then unwrapped food could stick to bin and mean she needs to clean bin. Was it a recycling bin? I personally wouldn’t put rubbish in a private bin. We paid for our bins over £100 (newbuild) they aren’t provided for free by council so are our property.

Always one of these people. Sorry grammar police.

Not sure I would want a half eaten rice cake loose in my bin either
We use binbags for a reason, we don't just chuck loose stuff in.

All that fuss over half a rice cake.
What a sad life.

Good point. And where i live, the binmen would refuse to take general waste with a rice cake on top as we have to put food waste in with garden waste. No food is to go in with general waste.

As long as it was in the right bin, I don’t see the problem.

Honestly, I really didn’t realise it would have caused such a big deal or I wouldn’t have done it. I guess it really didn’t occur to me as in my area, the bin men are fine and normally will empty the bins regardless. Also where it was dropped was like a muddy ish area so didn’t want to hold onto it until I got home.

It's a bin. I genuinely wouldn't care about a bit of rice cake.

You shouldn't have put it in her bin but she was wrong for overreacting, especially as you were with small children - it's not really that big a deal x

Yabu. I never ever had the need to put anything in a strangers bin. That's rude. However once in I wouldn't route around to get it. I hope you apologized to the lady

If bins are owned by the council why did I have to pay £25 to receive each bin when I moved in? They belong to me. They charge new builds for the bins they receive.

I know this isn't the point of this thread, but I can't stand this typical Mumsnetty response.

How on earth do you know what's going on in the woman's life? It might be that after such a terrible day with so many awful things happening, OP then chucks half a rice cake into this woman's bin and that is the final straw.

I would feel sorry for the bin owner lady, thinking she's probably going through a pretty tough time to get wound up about something like that.

Anyway, OP you did a pretty ordinary thing that most people have done once in their life. The bin owner lady got upset. I guess that's the risk/gamble you take!

Take your rubbish home with you. 🙄