Not at all a big problem, just hoping someone can help me make sense of a minor thing I perceive in my neighborhood.
One of my neighbors regularly leaves large pieces of trash on their front lawn. Trash day is tomorrow. Since at least Sunday, on their parkway right next to their driveway has been a large-ish cardboard box, that a set of youth golf clubs came in.
I don’t understand why they would not have kept the box in their garage until trash day. Some people keep their houses up better than others, but no one else just leaves big pieces of trash lying about.
Not at all a big deal, and I know I could pick up the box myself. But this is far from the first time this has happened. Just wondering why people living in a nice, expensive home would not care that they have trash lying on their front lawn, or why they would not care that their neighbors have to see their trash.
Additional facts:
I live in what I consider to be an upper-middleclass suburb of Chicago. Average house price in my immediate neighborhood is probably around $500k, w/ many of the smaller homes being torn down and replaced w/ $1mill+ homes.
This is the nicest house on my immediate block - having recently undergone an extensive renovation costing at least a couple hundred $k.
The family is a younger couple w/ 2 kids - aged approx 10.
Like I said - not a big deal. Just wondering why people who seem so similarly situated as I seem to perceive their home/neighborhood so differently. I grew up in Chicago. As a kid, my dad drilled into me that if I was walking up to my house and saw ANY trash on the ground - so much as a candy wrapper - I should pick it up and throw it in the household trash.
My Daddy used to make us ‘police’ the yard, regularly. It was as important to him keeping the house picked up.
I totally get it. It’s not the the worse thing that could be happening in your neighbors yard. But still…why?
My advice to you: Do not say anything to them or go over and pick It up. You will come off as the nit-picky, condescending neighbor.
Call your HOA.(I’m assuming you have one) Report them.everytime you see trash left around their yard.
So not too annoying imo just a cardboard box that should be flattened and put in recycling. What other trashy things do they do? My pet peeve is folks who can’t flatten cardboard and instead pile up their empty boxes around the garbage can. Really trashy people have real garbage and trashed household items strewn about the place.
We get a “window,” not a date. Signs go up to put out big trash for the week of January 5 or whatever. If you miss that opportunity it’ll be weeks before they come back so most of us put it out right away.
There are people (I call them curb surfers) who cruise the neighborhood when that time comes and take whatever…once I put out a bbq grill that we no longer wanted. It was rusting, but the guts worked and we picked up a new one on sale. Well, a guy stopped by and he had a truck pulling a trailer. He was just getting things that he might be able to fix, resell for a buck, etc. I helped him load it.
We don’t mind people taking things—if it keeps it out of landfill or allows less fortunate people to have something they can’t afford, great—but we do wish they wouldn’t leave a mess. In other words don’t take a box that we packed, empty it and discover there was nothing valuable in it, then not put it all back so that the big trash guys won’t take it.
It is right where their bins go on trash day. Our homes have front lawns, then a sidewalk, then an approximately 10’ wide parkway next to the street. Our streets have curbs and sewers. People place their trash/recycling/yardwaste on the parkway (or on the bottom of their driveway) right next to the street/curb.
The local ordinance prohibits placing trash or bins out before the evening of the day before trash pickup. Sure, folk put certain items others might want out early to “recycle.” But it is unlikely some passerby would pick up a cardboard box which has been rained upon.
We do not have a HOA.
I guess I just don’t understand why someone would put as much money into their house as these folk have, and then be content to just leave trash on the lawn. It is within a couple of feet from where they pull their cars in/out of their driveway, or where they go out to pick up their newspaper. They spend time outside also. They have nice furniture on their front porch, their kids are often playing out front and up and down the street, … They have professional;y installed and maintained landscaping. So they aren’t the sort of people who just don’t go outside much.
Our town has clearly printed rules about what to do with your trash/recyclng/yardwaste. Sticks and stuff have to be tied into bundles of a certain max length/weight, and are picked up at no charge.
Earlier this year, these people had a few large sticks just lying haphazardly near the street - where one would expect them to be picked up. They were overlong, and not tied. The stupid sticks lay there for THREE WEEKS. I presume the trashmen declined to pick them up given their size. It got to the point that I derived amusement from wondering how long it would be before these people figured out what everyone else on the block had no problem with. One day my wife went out early on trash day, and broke up and tied the sticks. They were removed that day.
This - very much. My wife and I are empty nesters, and generate very little trash/recycling. We walk our dog all the time, ad often comment on the amount of stuff these people (and some others) seem to get delivered. Which is fine - just something we notice.
Nearly everyone at least flattens their boxes and stands them up next to their bin. These folk simply toss the boxes next to the street, filled with packing materials and such.
That sort of thing gives me the impression that these folk assume that SOMEONE ELSE ought to clean up after them.
Yeah, leaving things out for the taking is common around here. And we don’t know when they’ll do the appliance pickup, they give you a day but it’s not reliable and they’ll just pick things up if they’re already out with the truck.
We have one day per year called something like “spring cleanup”, on which you can put just about ANYTHING (but not rootballs, piles of construction material, paint/chemicals/electronics) out and they will take it free of charge.
There are recycling centers for old paint and electronics.
And every week you can put most anything out - couch, washer/dryer, etc - so long as you attach a sticker that costs a couple of bucks.
The scrappers drive around and pick up just about anything large and metal. Other people - ourselves included - will occasionally pick up and take home someone else’s trash - like old furniture.
I suspect they don’t perceive it as “on their lawn”: they see it as “put out for pickup”. That’s really different than having a box out in the middle of the grass, or plastic grocery bags stuck in your bushes.
There is probably some sort of ordinance about when you can put trash out. (our city says no earlier than 5:00 AM the day of pickup). Call the city and tell them it’s a problem, city will send a letter, they will know it’s a problem.
That said, we have once a week bulk garbage pick up by request, and when I am doing a major clean out (like the garage), I start stacking stuff up a few days in advance, both so that other people have a chance to pick over it, and because I don’t really have anywhere else to put it. Sometimes, things disappear so completely I never have to call the city-- and other times, I “gain” things as people see an opportunity to get rid of that one chair.
My dad was the same way. One day he started yelling at me, and asking why I never picked up the trash outside without being asked. I replied that I did so, but he wouldn’t know because he hadn’t asked me to do it. I think that was one of the few times I impressed him.
Right, but when there was a bag of trash the neighbor put out for pick up, did he make you haul it away? I think that’s what Dinsdale’s neighbors are doing, in their own mind: they are putting trash out early.
Like I’ve said, not at all a big deal. Just a minor thing that makes me wonder how/why some people situated so similarly to me act/perceive things so differently.
This isn’t a big appliance carton or anything. Just a rectangular box maybe 3’ long, and 12" square. When I first noticed it, it was lying somewhat more haphazardly on the parkway near the street/driveway. Over the days, it has been rained on, has become flattened, and has moved right next to the driveway - where they generally place their cans. No idea if the residents did it or their neighbors/passersby. You could walk block after block in our neighborhood, and not see recycling set out days in advance of pickup.
I do not know these people other than to wave and nod as we pass by, but they HAVE been at home. I see their kids out often, their garage door is open… This a.m. when we walked our dog the mother and dtr came out of their house just a little bit in front of us and walked down the street in the same direction we were walking.
My wife and I are likely anal about keeping our house looking nice. We do it mainly for ourselves, but also so our neighbors and anyone walking/driving by will have something pleasant to look at. I have a hard time getting my mind around why someone would have gone through the time, expense, and hassle of the major renovation these folk did, and then not care if trash is lying on their lawns.
We have the worst yard in the neighborhood. Full of asters and goldenrod weeds which aren’t flowering yet so they look like tall obnoxious weeds. But flowering now are a dozen or so other field weeds that aren’t weeds imo, still I’m sure some neighbors hate to look at it. And we leave the garbage can out at the end of the drive all the time. None of these behaviors would be acceptable in town.
We have a similar issue here where we have a scheduled weekly bulk pickup service. Ordinance says you can’t put things out before 5pm the evening prior. But people put stuff out all week so it sits by the curb festering… Why? IMO …
A) Some people simply have the idea that trash, even a clean empty cardboard box, is “icky”. The sooner it’s out of the house the better. Eww!
B) The job isn’t “done” until the trash is at the curb and they want to check the box that the job is done. Leaving whatever project half-done with the debris still in the garage isn’t psychologically satisfying.
C) Their garage is already full to bursting with stuff. Any material amount of debris left in there means a car won’t fit.
D) If the stuff involved a delivery, the owners aren’t big or strong (or motivated) enough to move the old stuff out. And the delivery guys sure aren’t coming back a few days later to do it for them.
So e.g. they buy a new couch which is delivered. The delivery guys can take the old couch to the curb at the same time or leave it for the owners to move on the appointed trash day. Owners can’t lift it, and certainly don’t want their ratty old couch clogging up their shiny newly improved room. So the couch goes out to the curb right then.
E) One last thought. Most people never give a thought to looking at their own house. They look out and see their neighbors’ houses, but their own place is so familiar that it’s out of sight out of mind. That’s true whether driving up to it or looking out from its windows. So they don’t even notice the effect of their trash. They may well notice your trash though!
Bottom line to all these things: Putting debris out early may not be their idea of a good idea; it may simply be the least bad idea they could come up with.
Of course there’s always
F) They’re simply thoughtless selfish pigs. Naah, couldn’t be. Could it?
You know what I really deeply resent? Picking up shit like phone books and “free” newspapers that get thrown on my yard or driveway. I do it, obviously, but I always want to call and report them for littering.
There’s also the property value angle, right? When neighborhoods decline, you’re losing your investment. But even in the short run, when you sell your house prospective buyers are coming into the neighborhood and before they ever walk through your front door, they’re sizing up the area. Would they be safe here, etc.? Put the most beautiful home in a rough part of town and…nah. So OP if you don’t have an HOA, you can call the city or whoever enforces code. Maybe if they get a letter once or twice that will be enough.
FWIW - just walked the dog past their trash cans at the curb. The recycling bin is overflowing. Next to it is loose a pile of boxes, not broken down. Halfway down the sidewalk in front of their house is a sheet of styrofoam about 1’x2’ - I’m assuming packing from a shipment. My guess is they are fine w/ it blowing around until someone else picks it up and disposes of it.
I’m going w/ LSL’s option F!
Of course, it looks like these folk are trying to singlehandedly keep the economy humming along!
In my city we have a black bin we roll out to the curb and a truck picks it up mechanically and dumps it into the back of the truck. If your waste isn’t in the bin it doesn’t get picked up.
Same with our blue recycle bins which makes me wonder if you don’t have any similar recycling service (where a cardboard box would go all crushed)?
Having a system like that sure solves any issues of stuff loose in the yard for pick up. If it’s not in the bin, it doesn’t get picked up.
I would perceive that as “put out early”, not “trash on the lawn”.
I don’t put my trash out early, because mine is picked up from my driveway, and putting it out early would mean it’s in my way. Also, I’m afraid animals would get into the actual trash. But if everyone else put out their boxes and crap on Tuesday morning, and this one family put it out Sunday night, I would just assume they are busy during the week and it’s easier for them to remember/get around to it on the weekend.
