Is it OK to drop a bag of rubbish into a neighbour's bin?
That's the debate between Kiwis on Reddit after one person posted in the New Zealand subreddit asking if it was an acceptable method of disposing of small amounts of trash - before the bin is collected, of course.
"What are your thoughts on a sneaky late night bag drop in a neighbour's unfilled bin when it's on the kerb. Does anyone do this?" the Reddit user asked.
"Is there a general consensus on whether this is OK to do or not?
"And no I'm not going to go door-knocking to meet neighbours I've never met before to ask."
The post racked up over 50 comments, where opinion was split on the issue.
"If whatever someone is putting in there goes in the correct bin and doesn't result in my bin not being collected, I don't mind," one person wrote.
"But if they put used nappies in my organics bin or black plastic bags full of rubbish in my recycling and I come back to find said bin hasn't been collected... or if they put stuff in my bin between when it's been collected and when I take it back in? Not cool, not cool at all."
"I would be absolutely pissed off. I've had a neighbour put their dirty recycling into our recycling bin, half of their shit wasn't recyclable and could have had the bin rejected," wrote another.
"Nothing wrong with that. If there's space and it's going to be collected the next day. Who is being harmed or losing out?" countered another.
Back in 2018, Auckland Council waste enterprises and refuse manager Terry Coe told the Herald placing items into another person's bin was a bylaw breach under the Auckland Council Solid Waste Bylaw 2012, and breaches could result in prosecution.
"If you have concerns someone is dumping illegally into your bin, we encourage you to contact us immediately so that our waste team can investigate," Coe said.
