I rent a house here in WS. My garbage service is included in my rent, but my landlord pays the bill for garbage (and I will be billed for anything over the basic service they\'ve selected). Everything has been working out well since we moved into this house in May - the one garbage can is enough for the two of us without going over (and incurring more charge) and I love having a large recycling bin for us to use without sharing it (like we did in the old apartment complex). Some weeks we fill it full, other times we don\'t, but it\'s nice to have the option.
About 2 months ago, I went out on Sunday night to put out recycling. That\'s when I found our recycling bin (plastic/paper) was stuffed full. Not only was it not our stuff, but it was filled with non-recyclable things like styrofoam and platic bags. I did not see who did it, but I find it coincidental that it was the same week that the duplex next door had a new family move in - the styrofoam and plastic was along with boxes for furniture that presumably had been put together, as well as moving boxes. Since I had not enough room for my own stuff, and I didn\'t want my landlord (or us) to get in trouble for putting trash in there, I took out the non-recyclables, put it in a bag, and put it with the neighbor\'s garbage that I suspected it belonged to.
The next week I went to put garbage in my single can and found that it was half full with a bag that was not ours. (I don\'t use that type of garbage bag.) I took it out and also left it next door, on top of their stuffed-full mini cans. A week later, there is more stuff in our recycling bin, and more stuff in our garbabe.
I am very frustrated by this. Garbage pickup is a paid service here, so in essence, somebody is stealing my service. It\'s inconvenient for me to have to try and cram my own stuff in there because someone thought they had this sense of entitlement to use a neighbor\'s can without permission. Now, if the same person came to my door and said \"gee, I see that you have a lot of extra room, and I\'m out - can I use your can?\" I\'d be more than happy to help out (if I had the room). But the fact that this is being done on the sly, and without regard for anyone but themselves, is what is most frustrating. Plus I never know if, after I put out my garbage, if someone is going to add to it - and incur a larger cost for my landlord (which they\'ll blame me for), or getting us in trouble for putting the wrong thing in the wrong can.
I feel uncomfortable knocking on the door and blaming a particular family (even though it started as soon as they moved in) because I\'ve never actually seen anyone do it. Besides, I don\'t know which part of the duplex they live in and don\'t want to knock on the wrong door. I\'ve thought of putting a sign up, although I\'m not even sure what I\'d say.
If this were happening to you, how would you handle it? Do I confront someone? Put a sign up? Contact non-emergency police about it? Call the city trash/recycling people? Any thoughts would be appreciated.
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