Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
People going through bins
Has anyone been having any issues with people going through their bins? We're on Roseberry Gardens and have twice asked people (one man, one woman) to stop rifling through our bins.
Today someone has come and removed our bin bags from the wheelie bins and torn them open.
Thanks,
Tags for Forum Posts: theft from dustbins
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jon Appleyard on
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Hmm. Grey indeed. If I've put it in a bin It is because I wish the council to remove it therefore it would be odd to call myself deprived of it if someone other than the council took it.
To me throwing something away is an active declaration that I no longer wish to own it yet at the same time I do so with a supposed knowledge of where it will end up.
In the current situation it is for me about what the act of searching ones trash implies. Without connecting evidence I shouldn't assume such a person would be more or less of a threat to my property or person than anyone else but it is hard not to think in that way.
When I next witness it I intend to ask them what they are seeking and why.
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Permalink Reply by Kieran Cullen on
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That sounds like a good idea, but I bet they will think you are a complete weirdo and will run away.
Culture clash.
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Permalink Reply by Geraldine on
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Good idea, Jon, as long as communication is kept on a friendly/inquisitive level. Or at least kept non-aggressive. In my experience, nothing is ever achieved by fear and anger. Hackles are raised immediately - and that applies to any culture. If I were doing it, I'd try to smile, hard as that may be.
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Permalink Reply by Lydia R on
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I don't think anyone on this forum begrudges their useful jetsam going to someone who can use it, rather than to landfill but the point is that the scavenger is either on your property uninvited or tearing bags open to get at the contents -- or perhaps both.
Some strong individuals might not mind a complete stranger lumbering about the front garden a couple of feet from the sitting room window, but many older people and people at home looking after children, for instance, are likely to be very worried by such a visitation and would have every right to feel intimidated. Then they would have the additional stress of having to clean up bags that had been dumped to one side, or torn open, both of which are not only unaesthetic and smelly but would attract vermin.
Lydia Rivlin — so nauseated by vote rigging in the wards, venality in the Council, shenanigans in the Planning Department and disorganisation in the Social Services, that I signed up to fight it all by becoming a Conservative candidate in the May elections. One thing about the Tories—they haven’t been corrupted by power round here.
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Permalink Reply by 0m8gqi7ysal6v on
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This all sounds insane.
Will keep a look out
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Permalink Reply by Cecilia on
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we actuall saw a woman rummaging through the bins of one of the blocks of flats on Cornwall Road a few days ago. This was on a weekend in full daylight. I can only feel blessed that we have a lock-up bin store!
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Permalink Reply by Ruth on
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The rummagers prefer daylight so they can see what there is in the bins. They are not embarassed at this activity, probably their way of making some sort of living.
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When I spoke to the police they told me what I described (ie someone in my front garden going taking stuff from my bins) was not technically illegal.
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I am not a legal eagle but I believe that if the recyclable material has clearly been abandoned in a public place, or if the scavenger has been authorized by the owner to remove it, then it is lawful. However in South Wales back in 2012 Local Councils and the Police were investigating and the Police said: "Anyone taking rubbish without authorisation is breaking the law." (even if taken from the kerbside) see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-16768689
Maybe a legal eagle out there can provide more info, or better still someone from the Council could look into it and tell us what action they intend to take. - One for the next local Forums? or The Green Lanes Strategy Group?
It also clearly poses a risk to identity theft. Whilst this theft of identity is, by itself, not a crime under UK law, misusing the identity information to fraudulently obtain goods or services is.
If the police wont act shred documents in the meantime and if possible don't put recyclable paper out until last minute before collection.
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For me the issue is of having people I have not invited into my front yard going through my bin and leaving a mess in their wake.
There isn't much there for them- I recycle like mad and I shred etc., but still they come some days and it's that unwelcome trespass that annoys me (plus mess). When it happens all along the street, we have more mess than is usual. I'm sure that this is an emerging area of concern and legally there might be something coming up about it in the near future?
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Y'all might be interested in this article from the Ham&High (Friday, 2nd May 2014)
http://www.hamhighbroadway.co.uk/news/human_scavengers_raid_highgat...
Lydia Rivlin: Conservative Party candidate, Harringay Ward.
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Thanks Lydia for this post.
I've just returned from Bulgaria, a country I visit regularly as I used to live/work there.
It is just accepted there that some people, it is usually Roma but not always-can be elderly Bulgarians who struggle to get by on tiny pensions- make a very meagre living from going through the bins, regularly throughout the day.
They pull out card, paper, cans, plastic bottles etc. Anything that might bring in a few pennies. They are efficient and methodical. There is not much done about recycling in Bulgaria officially at the moment (there are some recyle bins being introduced but small scale at present) and this regular, job-like scavenging is a form of effective recycling in itself.
There, though, the bins are those big communal ones on the streets that people share. Not our individual household wheelies that we know and love (or hate…)
That's perhaps what the people here who do it don't understand- it is a big difference our sense of privacy and ownership of our homes, bins and rubbish. I can feel a intercultural essay coming on about rubbish…
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