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?

It’s on loan to the individual household - let’s not be pedantic because no normal person thinks like this.

She was totally overreacting, but I'd never put anything in someone else's bin.

I do and I am normal thanks. Since I don't see it as leaving the rubbish for that household, you are just contributing to the council pick up. If it's left out on the street I think it's not unreasonable for people to use it.

I can imagine people whinging about teenagers throwing stuff on the floor when walking past people's bins so can't win either way!

With a family of 5 and 3 weekly collections, there’s no space in my bin for public waste!

It's a bin fgs. And half a rice cake hardly a poo bag. Op didn't do anything wrong.

She overreacted but maybe it's a regular occurrence and it pisses her off. I live en route to a tourist hot spot and we have people dump dog poo, food waste, half eaten ice creams etc in our garden waste bins which is for compostable stuff and I've had to fish out. It's gross.

But as was stated last time a poster put this, that might be the case with your council, but it isn't the same across the Country. If the OP lived in an area where this was the case, then she probably wouldn't have done that, but, for many of us, 'food waste' isn't separated out.

It's hardly 'public waste' that is going to stop you putting anything else in to your bin. Have you seen the size of a rice cake ? The OP wasn't bringing out a couple of black bags and filling the space in the bin.

not a free pass to trample boundaries and use other people's resources.

Hyperbolic much ?

Same. They don't get tipped in, the guys lift the bags out. If they see any food they leave the bin and you either have to get the offending items out or take it all to the tip yourself. If they don't see it, it falls to the bottom, rots and you have to wash the bin out.

It's a real pain. Honestly if they made a habit of it I'd hose them, children or no. They'd not be doing it again.

Plus, you want to be careful not to piss off the wrong person, especially with kids. One lady round here was getting dog shit in her bin every day. She collected it up for a week, followed them home and threw the bags at their windows.

Police told them that if they pursued it they would also be fined for fly tipping as it was her property and the lady had a camera proving it was them.

So are you happy to have random bins returned to you? I'm not - I make sure I get mine back by having my house no labelled on them. Otherwise you can end up with disgusting bins that haven't been cleaned, that have had food thrown in. I keep my bins clean and I don't see them as a communal resource.

I don’t see them as a communal resource. Are you commenting on the person who disagreed with me? I think we agree.

But if everyone has the same opinion then it’s not one rice cake is it - and if the bin men see food, they won’t empty it!

Someone's this happens on my street. What passersby won't necessarily know is that only rubbish in rubbish bags is collected. The bin isn't tipped upside down, so any random bits get left at the bottom for us to fish out.

As has been explained several times on this thread. That isn't the case everywhere.

The OP presumably lives in the same area as the bin she put rubbish in, so it is reasonable to assume that the OP lives where the Council doesn't have any problem with a loose rice cake in the bin.

But surely food in the bin could lead to maggots 🤢 just shove it in your pocket until you get home. What about people shoving cigarette butts in any old bin? I’m not okay with that either. It’s bloody rude. Use a public bin or take it home. It’s not complicated.

You see this is where you went wrong OP. You assumed that everyone else in the world has full enough lives that they don’t have to create a full drama out of 5 grams of puffed rice.

Im like you. I’d put that in a bin in that scenario. I reckon where I live you could put a body in and the binmen would still empty it - just as long as you’ve left the handles of your bin pointing the right way 🤷‍♀️

But mumsnet is mental. There’s all sorts of stuff that I, and literally everyone else I know in the real world, does or finds perfectly reasonable, that gives people conniptions on here. (Answering the door to strangers. Change the bedsheets less than weekly. Co-sleep. Don’t mind if people park in “my” spot. … I could go on!)

i wouldn’t give this thread, or that woman, a second thought. It was a rice cake, not a nerve agent. It’s fine.

We are extremely careful with our rubbish, rinse out containers and hardly use any disposable items eg nappies, wipes, sanpro. Our normal and recycling bins contains absolutely nothing that smells or leaves behind mess, and even our food bin contains tied up compostable bags. So I would not be impressed with someone putting unwrapped food in my bin. I realise we are very unusual and most people chuck all sorts of disgusting stuff straight in the bin (and then wonder why they get maggots or smells).

I'd just have wheeched it under a bush.

I had to google what wheeched meant. A new word for me! 😃

We've had wheely bins here for 20 years plus.
Our bin is on the edge of our property, next to the pavement, and we get a lot of footfall, so it isn't uncommon for people to put something in the bin - for example if they finish their takeaway as they are passing.
Although, I only put bagged rubbish in, I have no issue with that at all.

We have never had any maggots in all that time. So 'could lead to maggots' isn't really backed up by evidence here.

You think it isn't complicated to take home rubbish that isn't going to fit in your pocket.
I think it isn't complicated to put rubbish in a bin when you see one.
In fact, that is what I would always encourage people to do - put your rubbish in the bin.

It’s a household bin not a community one. Totally rude to use it. I can’t even believe this is a debate.

I would have left it for the birds.

Whatever you do don't Google "Billy Connolly Jobby Wheecher".

Oh and for the avoidance of doubt, "wheech" is pronounced with a hard "ch" as in Loch, not soft as in cheese.

This! Who has the time to be offended over a rice cake!?