Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
A new type of bin raider?
I am probably going to regret posting this because I know it is a controversial topic on here!
Anyway, last night at midnight my hubby and I got woken up to some guy rustling through our bins outside our bedroom window. Hubby knocked on the window and enquired what the man was doing (he looked in his mid 20s, dark clothes, black wolly hat). The man said "Looking for a plastic bag, mate" and then walked off. I watched him go down the street and saw him getting out a new bin bag and putting something in to it. He also had a variety of sainsburys bags with him. All very odd...!
Anyone like to make a guess at what he was doing/looking for? Do you think he was looking for scrap metal like the other people who frequent our bins on the Harringay ladder? Or something else?
Anyone else seen late night bin raiders?
Please let's not go over the same debates as in previous posts about people going through bins. I am genuinely interested in what people think he was doing.
Tags for Forum Posts: bins, theft from dustbins
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gill on
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Another question......If our bins are in our front gardens, isn't the rubbish still our property, therefore if anything is taken from them, it is theft?
And another.........should the police be notified?
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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If only they could bring themselves to do this quietly but it seems that they deliberately make a bit of "I exist!" noise. Fortunately in this country you could soon be allowed to shoot intruders on your property (with a non-automatic weapon of course, we are still civilised!) but until then I suggest you wear ear plugs or drink more.
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Yeah it gets a bit political here but I do try to stay out of the "if my servant is lazy, should I beat him" and "how can my cleaner evade income tax" discussions. It's Christmas and I couldn't resist pointing out that there's sometimes another side to rummaging around in bins. You did also say "I am probably going to regret posting this because I know it is a controversial topic on here!", so I wasn't about to let you down.
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Permalink Reply by Burgoyne Bec on
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No idea! I have seen a few bin raiders on the ladder, but plastic bag collectors, not so much!
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If our bins are in our front gardens, isn't the rubbish still our property, therefore if anything is taken from them, it is theft?
And another.........should the police be notified?
When the nightsoil men of Georgian and early Victorian Harringay arrived at midnight and rang their little bell which announced "the shite-shifters are here", did Mrs Gray dig her husband in the ribs and did Edward Gray throw open their window in his nightshirt and yell: "That privy's in my garden. It may be shit, but it's our shit. If you don't show me a clean pair of heels, my man, I shall call our local PCSO to deal with you."
Of course, Harringay House ordure may have been spread liberally across the lawns of Harringay Park, or devoted to the produce of the Pineapple house or orangery or those delicate mushrooms, or maybe just piped straight into the New River. Ask Hugh. In any case, showing a clean pair of heels was something that not even the most fastidious member of the Nightsoil Quartet [hole man, rope man, two tubmen] could easily accomplish. Not for nothing was he able to charge thrice the rate of a skilled workman - what with the combination of unsocial work and unsocial hours. Start at midnight - finish by 5.00am. And that was long before your Cleaner could demand today's Harringay Ladder Living Wage of a shilling an hour.
Sally & Gill, the Midnight Bin Raider is clearly a descendant of the Harringay Nightsoil Man. He's looking for work, has mislaid his tub and is making do with plastic bags. Treat him with respect - you never know when you'll really need him.
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OAE. I am quite aware of your numerous facetious comments and that you are hopefully trying to give us good cheer on these long nights, but sometimes there are times when it is not appreciated. As Mike has commented below, and from my own experience, these nighttime occurences can be worrying and disturbing. Treat us with respect too.
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Permalink Reply by Mike C on
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Trying to stay on topic, the fear people have is of identity fraud. In the People's Republic of Haringey we have more empathy for the metal collector than some of the other boroughs. My neighbours have been victims of identity fraud twice, incredible how few details are needed, but don't most of use shred/tear stuff because of all this?
I can't think of anything you'd want barring metal and personal details. I'd suggest he was after the latter.
Over here in West Green we're unfortunately a few steps away from some vigilante direct action, people are really irked by it. I had some waking nights recently because of an injury and there were people in the bins every other night, incredible.
Curious question. Any more thoughts? (That aren't revenge fantasies?)
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Providing a little helpful historical perspective, Gill, is at the very heart of HOL's civilising mission. To dismiss my response to your and Sally's heartfelt questions as "facetious" is to do me grave disrespect. I feel sure that your sincere apology is in the (next) post.
Sally wrote: Please let's not go over the same debates as in previous posts about people going through bins. I am genuinely interested in what people think he was doing.
She was clearly keenly aware that this discussion, like so many others, has been done to death on this forum, but that (unlike our myriad missing cats) it does not have nine lives. She wanted us to avoid all the old hackneyed clichés and er push the envelope in the interests of blue sky thinking outside the box bin. My post was a contribution to that more enlightened debate she called for. Please be more abstemious with the facetious suggestion or I may have to turn arsenious.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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Hi Sally
I too am interested in what people want from the bins and if I can do so I usually ask them. I've not yet found one that wanted plastic bags (one thought was, did he have a dog with him and was being a responsible owner but you say he had a lot of them so probably not) but I have been told, by the people themselves, clothes, copper (from old tvs), scrap metal and things someone could sell at a car boot sale: "you'd be surprised at what people throw away" .
He could have been looking for documents but as John McM once so sagely said on a different post on bin raiders, don't put temptation in people's way by throwing away personal documents. Shred them (and put them on the compost heap if you have one).
I think OAEs point about what one person throws away is another persons livelihood *is* relevant. Once upon a time, kids made a living out of 'finding the pure' or collecting dog poo for use in tanning, which no doubt was considered rather unpleasant by our Victorian ancestors. Now we see kids and parents searching for things like metal, which is not really different, although probably less smelly.
The move by the government to stop cash payments for scrap metal may put an end to scrap metal scavenging. While such legislation is welcome to prevent the theft of metal from war memorials, people's front gates or bronze statues in public places by criminals, it will no doubt impact on the 'scavengers' making a few pounds on the innards of a tv or a bit of metal found in a bin.
So saying, I can understand the anxiety around having people rooting in bins and the fortnightly collection system means that there is often quite a build up of rubbish for people to sift through. Also people in this borough don't dispose of their rubbish in a particularly responsible fashion so there may be rich pickings for people prepared to sift through cat litter and dirty nappies. At a recent area forum, some older members of the community expressed their fears about finding people in their bins and I can understand how something that doesn't bother me would have an entirely different effect on an older person on their own.
On Gill's point, I guess you could be looking at trespass but a bin raider would be reasonable in assuming that if you've put it in the bin you don't really want it so they are free to repurpose it. If it's an ongoing problem that causes problems in a neighbourhood, you could raise it with your local councillor to take it to the Police ward panels. Every few months, SNTeams have to draw up a set of priorities based on residents feedback. If enough people feel strongly enough to complain, then they will put it on their top 3 things to tackle.
I do think that our system of storing our rubbish in front gardens is also part of the issue. In places like the US, you see people scavenging in dumpsters but because people don't store their rubbish in their front gardens, most people seem oblivious to it as it's not on their property (bearing in mind that I've found US citizens very hung up about personal space which extends to their property and their cars). Where welfare systems are non-existent or very limited, scavenging is much more common. Sometimes beautiful things can happen with landfill rubbish
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