What is it about people wanting to put trash right outside the front door? Is it that decorative? Some kind of Avant Garte artistic statement? Are the insects raised like livestock and used as a food source? Every tenant neighbor I've ever had seems to have problems with it! I have the trash cans on the far corner for a reason. The insects that inevetably gather around it are far from the house. It's by the street and the woodland animals/loose pets are more wary of ripping into it. Most importantly, the trash men will always pick it up if it's there already. First, they try to put trash bags in the non-air conditioned back utility room. That way, two week old trash can really stink up the joint! I tell them that trash can't be kept in the back room. They comply. Second try, they move the cans back by the front door of the house and forget to take theirs out on trash day. So they drag my cans back and start using them too. I take all the cans back to the corner AGAIN, and clean up the carnage from animal digging. What do they do? They set the garbage bags outside the front door on the ground to get ripped up by animals unfettered by cans! Talk about a frickin' mess! Why oh why is it so difficult to walk the trash 20 feet to the corner? I've also had to recover 2-3 cases worth of beer bottles whole and broken, from the woods past the back yard. I know it's high ground and you can get a really good pitch going, but kids play in those woods dammit! I'm no neat freak myself but are the average populus naturally such pigs? I mean, lets keep it within reason! You know?

I agree. Please keep the trash in the trash can not by the front door. I'm refering to my next door neighbors trash. It just sits there for about 2 weeks before she cleans it up and its still a half-A job. Everyday I walk by her door and I'm just tempted to pick up the pennies still laying there. I could use the change but I'm too honorable to do that. Bummer :(

I don't mind what other people do with their trash, as long as they don't put it into my compound.

maybe you should set up a small neighborly meeting regarding that kind of problem... or just tell everyone with a very big speakerphone with siren :D

WOW!! For a minute there I was thinking you must live in my apartment without me knowing. The neighbors across the hall (there's only 2 of us upstairs) consistently leave their garbage bags in the hall way rather than walk them all the way down stairs and about 50 ft from the front door to the dumpster. I mean, that might take a whole 30 seconds to do. I'm constantly complaining to the complex management about them. They also use the laundry room well past hours (the machines are up against my dining room wall, you don't hear them during the day, but late at night, you can), and they use the machines all day even leaving clothes in them for hours so no one else can use them. I love my apartment, but I think when it comes time to renew, I'm going to have to look, which sucks. I guess some people just have no consideration of others. Maybe I can move in next to you and your neighbor can move in to my apartment.

Sir K, I would suggest the exact same thing as Harkoliar did. Well the first part at least. ;)Get a group together and talk this through letting your neighbors know that there will be no more tolerance. This behavior is disgusting. Trash belongs in the trash can period! If this doesn´t improve there must be some official way to deal with this. That way you won´t have to get your hands dirty.

SirK,

You mentioned these are tenants. Have you discussed the situation with the Landlord? They're the ones who should have set guidelines for the use of their property, and they're the ones who can do something about it. You might negotiate with them for payment to keep the place clean, or if you're also a tenant, a reduced rate to compensate for their other tenants.

And HQ, your best bet is to talk with the apartment complex management. Let them know that you'd rather stay right there, but because of the behavior of your neighbors, you're unwilling to do so. That puts the onus on them to either fix the problem or watch your rent money go bye-bye. And unless the market is so good that they've got a waiting list for your apartment, they'll probably be more accomodating of you.

And if you do that, they've got until your lease expires to address the problem.

As for the laundry in the machines, BTW, I'd suggest what we did in college -- if it's still in there, it gets pulled out and dumped somewhere in the laundry room so someone else can use the machines.

When we bought our house, we never took into account Wind Currents. Now, whenever some slob drops a candy wrapper within 1/2 a block in any direction, the wind blows it out to the street and then loops it around so that it lands on my yard. I even get paper garbage that blows out of the 'gnaw holes' that raccons leave in the tops of the cans.

Now, I could be a jerk and put that slimy piece of paper with their return address on it right by their front door, but 1) I have to live next to them til that 30 year mortgage is paid off, and 2) If they don't see it, the wind will only blow it back anyway...

I guess I should mention I live in my parents upper/lower. I live in the upper for a very reasonable rate. I do minor repair, painting, yardwork, and the like for dad. Unfortunately, the tenants think that means I'm the maid service when it comes to trash. I don't mind cleaning up after the animal raids as long as reasonable measures are taken. I think I'm going to buy one of the JUMBO cans with the locking hinged lids. That should discourage most small animals. Leaving trash on the ground outside the door is still unacceptable. I told them it needed to be cleaned up and they did it.

The leaving clothes in them for hours so no one else can use them is a pet peeve of mine. The Washer is done in 30mins, the dryer 45mins, if they are stopped I go back to my apartment for 30mins and when I come back I toss their cloths on the counter. After 30mins I no longer care because they are taking up my time, I think 30 mins is pletty of time to come down to get your cloths after the machines have stopped.

[ 05-01-2003, 01:59 PM: Message edited by: pritchke ]