Ask Wirecutter: How Do I Stop People From Throwing Poop Bags in My Garbage Can?

Ask Wirecutter, an advice column written by Annemarie Conte, explores the best approaches to buying, using, and maintaining stuff. Email your biggest product-related problems to askwirecutter@wirecutter.com.

Dear Wirecutter,

You are watching: Ask Wirecutter: How Do I Stop People From Throwing Poop Bags in My Garbage Can?

I live near a park, and people frequently dump their sticky food wrappers and stinky dog-poop bags into my garbage bin. Our trash company won’t take anything that’s loose, so I get stuck cleaning out the fly-filled can and bagging up other people’s garbage. How do I get my neighbors to stop?

H.K.

Dear H.K.,

When I first addressed your issue back in December 2021, I didn’t doubt the premise of the question: It’s not okay for someone to throw their dog’s poop bags in a non-public trash bin (or worse, a recycling bin or compost container!). I am a dog owner myself, and knowing my dog’s general routine helps me figure out our route so I can toss the bag into a town trash can. On the occasions where we take a different path or he hits me with an unexpected surprise, I carry the bag with me until we get home or find a public disposal option. I have considered getting him a backpack so he can carry his own bags (both empty and full), but we haven’t gotten there yet.

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I was with you. I’m still with you: It’s wrong to throw dog poop in a neighbor’s garbage can. But the commenters on this article—hoo boy, they are not with us.

Readers said, for example, that it’s ridiculous for a homeowner to be annoyed at people throwing loose poop bags in their trash, or that it’s better than a dog owner leaving the bagged or unbagged waste on the ground. To which I say, the choice isn’t binary! Dog owners should do as I do, holding on to poop bags until they reach their own garbage can. Just because some dog owners are worse than others doesn’t make the garbage-can owner wrong for wanting to keep their trash can free of other people’s trash. Not having loose bags of feces in an unlined garbage can is also just better for the garbage haulers.

“Generally waste collectors prefer to have things in bags because it’s easier and safer for them. They would much rather have it bagged than having to tip a can and everything spill out on the ground,” Brandon Wright, vice president of communications and media relations for the trade group National Waste Recycling Association, told me in a phone interview.

(Of course, not all commenters are flinging poop into their neighbors’ bins. Several spoke up in solidarity with us, lamenting their own experiences with broken bags, smeared waste, and unhauled trash.)

For a gut check, I reached out to sanitation departments across the country. In New York City, it’s actually illegal to dispose of your trash in someone else’s bin without permission. “We have more than 23,000 litter baskets across the city. We would encourage New Yorkers picking up after their pets to use one of those, or to use their home trash,” Vincent Gragnani, press secretary for the NYC Department of Sanitation, told me in an email.

Other departments called it “unneighborly” and “inconsiderate.” Just because one locality’s trash service might accept loose bags or use lifters to dump the can into the truck doesn’t mean they all do. And I stand by my original advice to you, H.K., as follows:

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If only the insect-repelling Terro Garbage Guard worked on people. Somewhere in my neighborhood, there is a small-dog owner who does not clean up their tiny pup’s poops, so I understand the accumulated rage you’re feeling over waste in the wrong place. (I really love the Wirecutter-pick dog-poop bags, by the way). The key here is to start small and gentle and then work your way up. I assume there is nowhere else to keep the can, or that this is only happening when you drag the can to the curb on garbage days. With that in mind, in ascending order of drama, I present you with some options:

Spell it out

You could give your neighbors the benefit of the doubt and assume they don’t know any better. A simple sign taped to the can’s lid that says “This is not a public trash can” might be enough to ward people off. You can print that out at home and get it laminated at an office store. If you want to send a louder message, though, you can use a Cricut or Silhouette machine to cut big words out of self-adhesive vinyl and decal a more permanent message right onto the lid (Oracal 651 vinyl works for outdoor use).

Line your can with a 40-gallon trash bag

From an environmental standpoint, the idea of pre-lining your trash can with a plastic bag to then fill it with plastic bags full of more unrecyclable plastic strikes me as a wee bit wasteful, but people do it, and it solves the issue because your trash haulers then just need to pull out one giant bag.

Lock it down

The goal here isn’t to make your life—or the lives of your garbage collectors—harder, but just to make it mildly more challenging for people strolling back from the park to use your can and not a public one.

1. Place a brick on top of your can. Are strangers willing to remove the brick and lift the lid to insert a sticky wrapper or the sloshy remains of an iced coffee? I hope not.
2. Bungee it closed. The easy-to-install Doggy Dare Trash Can Lock is basically bungee cords hooked together by a side-release buckle. It’s intended to keep dogs out of your waste bins, but it would likely work just as well to deter dog owners. You could also just hook bungee cords together, but those tend to snap back erratically if you’re not careful.
3. Padlock the lid. “I drilled a hole in the rim of my garbage bin and then in the flip-top, and then I put a combination lock with a long shackle through both holes (I bought something similar to the Master Lock 175DLH),” said Wirecutter editor Jon Chase. “That solved the problem instantly. After a few months, I realized I can leave it unlocked and it still dissuades unwanted contributions.”

Add a poop-only bin

One commenter had a great suggestion: Add a smaller bag-lined bin and a sign that says “Dog poop here!” so people can throw their poop bags into that can. You bag it up, toss it into your otherwise locked-down can, and everyone is happy.

Install a security camera

I’ve been tempted to point our budget pick for the best outdoor security camera, the Wyze Cam v3, at my sidewalk to catch those filthy beasts (the owners, not the dogs) in the act. Priced at less than $40 and equipped with great night vision, it’s probably worth the effort just so I can get some sleep. “This camera is cheap, easy to install, and can distinguish between people, pets, cars, packages, and general motion,” says senior staff writer Rachel Cericola. “It does require an outlet, though; if you don’t have one of those nearby, consider a battery-operated camera like the Arlo Pro 4.” This option won’t stop the actual trash-slinging from happening unless you rush out to the garbage can right as the crime is happening, but it could be a deterrent if you also put up a sign saying “Smile! You’re on camera.”

Scare the bejesus out of passersby

Become the wacky neighbor who keeps Halloween decorations up all year long. This is the perfect opportunity to repurpose one of those motion-activated ghouls. If I’m walking by on July 15, and something is laughing menacingly at me, I’m not pausing long enough to dump my greasy fast-food bag in your bin.

Source: https://gardencourte.com
Categories: Outdoor