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I caught someone fly tipping
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bin men in my city won't take bags off the floor. If it's not in a bin with the lid closed it's gets left
I would knock and give him or his parents it back2026 wins - Parker Pen American Sweets bundle 2x dish magic bundle NEU shots & a NEU training T-shirt ToeZone Shoes Worth £32
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Hi 1993j.
You have a full range of options, each with their pros, cons, and caveats. They will vary according to circumstances such as just how much you hate confrontation, and just how twitty the neighbours are. And how old the son.
Your options appear to be;
1) set it aside until bin day, and assume it was a one-off from a thoughtless twit. That will suit you best since you don't like confrontation, and chances are that will be the end of it. Meanwhile, download and store the clip securely, time/date-stamped, and write a brief note of what took place. Don't share that clip with anyone - it is only if this needs to be escalated. Do this - you currently have no idea what these folk are like, and whether it'll fizzle out or escalate. In the unlikely latter event, you will need evidence more than anything else. Unless you are obviously friendly terms with the neighbours - always say hello or have a chat - then this is what I would do in the first instance. Chances are it'll be the end of it. But you are armed if it isn't.
2) Reposition it in front of their house. Problem with this is that you will now be technically fly-tipping, and there's also a fair chance the neighbour will deludedly consider it passive-aggressive behaviour, and purposely take it as a 'slight' which conveniently gets them off the responsibility hook - in their small minds. There's a genuine risk that anyone who would do such a patently unreasonable act such as leaving their rubbish in front of someone else's house, will also have the uncanny - almost admirably 'clever' - ability to twist the facts in their own minds. So, they might argue that it was 'simply a mistake' - "I forgot!" - for them, whereas you deliberately left it outside their house where foxes could get to it/trip over it/reverse over it; 'See? You are much worse than us.' Bottom line - you will have done the same as them, so they are 'off the hook'. So, nah.
3) Leave a note on his car. 50:50 how he'll take this, depending on his calibre. He's clearly pretty thoughtless (tho' possibly forgetful?), so chances are he's also arrogant and entitled. What is his car like? Is it 'go-faster'? Does it 'rorp' excessively? Spin wheels? Play his thumpin' music too loud? All big warning signs. I suggest you don't do this either.
4) Approach the boy's parents, but there's a 50:50 chance that such thoughtless behaviour from a yoof originated 'somewhere', and chances are it's from poor parental guidance. The problem with ppg is that these parents also tend to convince themselves they are awesome, and so are their offspring. So, ~50% chance of a tetchy, defensive response. That will continue to feel uncomfortable for you, as you will have to accept that even if the 'issue' has been resolved, it won't have been done with genuine contrition and good grace. So, if you do approach them, do it with a big smile, and make it clear "it's really no big deal". The suggestion in other posts of pretending you were concerned it contained valuables such as Harry Styles CDs is pretty nifty (tho' they'll likely think you are telling white-fib). You will soon know if any contrition is genuine. This is the second-best option, I think, but only you know how these folk come across to you.
5) Report it to the council or police. Clearly the nuclear option, so expect very damaged relations going forward. Also, this would be serious overkill for a first offence, and a waste of these authorities time. So deffo nah.
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2) Reposition it in front of their house. Problem with this is that you will now be technically fly-tipping, and there's also a fair chance the
neighbour will deludedly consider it passive-aggressive behaviour, and purposely take it as a 'slight' which conveniently gets them off the responsibility hook - in their small minds.Not entirely clear from the OP's post, but it sounds like the neighbour wasn't present when the son left the bag where they did. They may have no idea their son has done this.
Therefore it wouldn't necessarily be 'deluded' for them to be pretty annoyed if they saw the OP shift rubbish from outside the OP's house to outside their house.
Without communicating to the neighbour that the rubbish was put there by the son, and that isn't on, there's a risk of the OP's actions being misunderstood.
There's a genuine risk that anyone who would do such a patently unreasonable act such as leaving their rubbish in front of someone else's house, will also have the uncanny - almost admirably 'clever' - ability to twist the facts in their own minds. So, they might argue that it was 'simply a mistake' - "I forgot!" - for them, whereas you deliberately left it outside their house where foxes could get to it/trip over it/reverse
over it; 'See? You are much worse than us.' Bottom line - you will have done the same as them, so they are 'off the hook'. So, nah.Again, we don't know, but it sounds like the neighbours are reasonably decent people. The problem is with the son. I wouldn't tar the parents for the actions of the son, unless the OP knows already they are alike.
But the key here is not to do something which might be misinterpreted, like stealthily shifting the rubbish.
Either have a conversation with the neighbour, or dispose of the rubbish in your own bin and do and say nothing.
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Obviously when I said 50:50 chance of them being a techy deluded parent, I really meant 43:47:10, in any order you like. For 10% of folk, sometimes they are bonkers, and sometimes heavenly.
It's all so confusing.
There's also option 6, which is to work yourself up into a complete lather, swill some wash-up liquid so's you are literally foaming at t'mouth, and storm up to their front door screaming and 'blinding your head off, before dumping the contents on their step. That is 97% guaranteed to work.
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If I got on with my neighbours, I'd assume it was an oversight and just put the bag in my bin. If you report it as fly tipping, I expect the council would love to issue the £1k fine but your neighbours would probably never speak to you again.
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If it were the first time this had happened, I simply throw it away myself. If it happened again I’d have a conversation with the neighbours.
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Absolutely this!…….
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Absolutely not.
(This one could run and run… 🙄)
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I think if he reported to the council as fly tipping, the council would tell him not to waste their time and ignore him.
And then the neighbours would probably never speak to him again.1 -
The OP explicitly stated they don't want confrontation and get on with their neighbours so a friendly knock on the door might work saying I don't know if it was a mistake but this happened.
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