Dumpster Woes
11/28/2007
I'm currently at work, but my sister drove by my house while ago and asked had I been dumping things in my dumpster, to which I replied that I had not, but I knew that someone had. Apparently now there's an old mattress hanging out of the dumpster.
My question is this: How do I stop people putting things in my dumpster? I have no driveway, so it's parked on the street. Not just my neighbors, but anyone could be dumping in it. But I'M paying for it. The little things at first I didn't mind. But the last time I needed to use it, it was almost half full and I couldn't put all of my trash and construction debris in it!
I'm not there enough to monitor it. It seems silly to file a police report. I could post signs on the dumpster, but really, a sign isn't going to stop anyone...
I guess I'll put a call into the company who rented me the dumpster. Maybe they have some ideas, or I could get a smaller dumpster, with lids I can lock and close. Seems like a lot of trouble, but I'm tired of paying for other people to get rid of their trash.
What would you do?
EDIT: Called company, talked to the lady in charge. She said they didn't have any smaller dumpsters (or any that would close and lock), that ideally they could move the dumpster closer to the house, but that won't work in my case. She said people have this problem every so often and the only thing to do is to post signs and file a police report. Maybe the police will patrol the area and catch someone dumping there. I guess it's better than nothing. She was super nice.
My sister suggested that I talk to my neighbors and ask them to be on the lookout for unsavory activity. I'll leave this dumpster in place for now, but as soon as it's full, I'll call the company to come deliver a dumpster when I'm ready for it, instead of having one sitting there all the time, ready to be taken advantage of.
What ever happened to people respecting others' property?
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2 comments:
How frustrating! Could you rig up a "lid" with a few pieces of plywood? I don't know if the 8 foot length on most plywood would stretch the opening, but if it would it could be a somewhat easy (if a little expensive) way to deal with it. You could even attach the plywood sheets together and then run a cable or two around the whole dumpster and lock it with bike locks.
People who dump trash are LAZY... putting something in their way will help.
I would definitely talk to your neighbors, too... if it's them dumping, they will know that you and the REST of the neighbors are on the lookout and likely stop. If it's not, you have many more eyes out there watching for you anyway!
This happens alot in my neighborhood. I would suggest you get a tarp or two and some tie downs or chain. You can anchor the tarp with the chains/tiedowns.
This won't prevent all unauthorized dumping, but should curb it significantly.
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