Do I really need to worry about people rummaging through my recycling bin?

Sounds like your neighbors are a bit paranoid. I’m always glad to see someone profiting from my recyclables, the guy that comes around is about 75, rather Norse looking and driving a pickup circa 1970. Glad to help him out. We have no crime problems in my neighborhood.

In Portland we had this problem. So I put out a sign that said cans and bottle are on the left. No problems after that. Before they made a huge mess digging though the bin.

The breaking into houses shit is simply racist bullshit. It isn’t easy to walk around with a cart and collect cans. That is hard work and you don’t do that to buy a new PS3 game.

People who go through recyclables will sometimes make noticeably audible sounds that tend to draw momentary attention to their activities, which isn’t something a prospective burglar would want to do.

If someone wants to break into your house, the absence of recyclable materials outside your home isn’t going to deter them.

I think when people remove materials from landfill-bound garbage for the purpose of recycling those materials, they’re actually performing a public service.

It seems paranoid to me.

If someone wanted my recyclables that badly, help yourself!

I feel the same about shredding every scrap of paperwork or documents.

I rip things up, tear them in half, but…if someone wants to dig through a bag of cat litter, kitchen trash and god knows what else in the hope of stealing my identity..well…have fun. haha

I agree with @Brian1946

But..I live in the mountains on property, the only things that go through my trash are the Raccoons.

This is just something that happens in urban areas and I’m surprised your neighbor hasn’t gotten used to it by now (or maybe they’re new to the whole thing?). It’s just so commonplace, I’m surprised at the reaction… Anyway, I’ve never experienced anything negative regarding the recycling collecting people. We had one Vietnamese woman in my mom’s last neighborhood that my mom kind of made friends with. She collected recycling for extra money and she was very nice. My mom started keeping certain recyclables separate so the lady would have an easier time of it.

The way I look at it is that it’s not an easy job.. it requires tons of walking and digging through trash, basically, for not a lot of reward. But at least they’re doing something to make money AND the stuff is getting recycled one way or another.

People rummage around where I am (whitebread suburb). I’m pretty sure it’s not part of a larger plot.

We’ve had a couple car break-ins, but it was punks looking to score cash for drugs.

I’ve been meaning to get a shredder however, for bills and such.

Well… it’s not entirely racist or alarmist, though your neighbor could be both of those things.

Sometimes what happens as an area turns from ‘low crime’ into ‘more crime’ is that things as relatively innocuous as ‘trash-picking’ turn into more. For example, if people who are going to commit crime see that honest trash-pickers are going to be tolerated (which I agree that on the face of it they should be), then they may attempt to ‘simulate’ trash pickers themselves. That is, they may dress and act the part and do some of the same activities, which gives them a chance to spend more time in front of the house, judging whether anyone is home, etc. – or looking around the neighborhood to see if anyone else’s house is vacant. So the south-of-the-border trash pickers can be completely honest and aboveboard, but they may provide cover from people with entirely separate motives.

If there’s no excuse for people to be hanging around in front of your house in the first place, then this becomes much less of an issue.

Also, as the police told my parents when their home was broken into many years ago, the first time is often ‘kids’. This is evident from some of the things that are stolen, such as relatively low-value electronics, televisions and quickly grabbed cash. But as these young criminals spread the word about where they’ve been and what they’ve done, then the professional criminals hear about the potentially more valuable things in the house, such as antiques and artwork that indicate a certain ‘status’ and wealth, and then the house is often attacked by those who know there is more value to be had from the place.

Shred everything that has any personal information on it before it goes into the trash. Set the recycles outside the trash can for easy access.

With identity theft at an all time high, I urge everyone to purchase a shredder.

@YARNLADY

Or…burn everything!

I use my outdoor Kiva fireplace to really sear the important stuff into oblivion.

@Coloma Burning in an approved receptacle is a great idea, except for the air pollution. Many items emit fumes that need to be avoided.

We don’t put anything in our recycling that might allow someone to steal our identity. At least, we try not to. As far as people taking recyclables—I see the guy who does it all over town. He’s probably mentally ill. He keeps talking and laughing to himself and never makes eye contact with anyone else. He rides around on an old bike, and I have no idea where he spends the night.

Technically, people taking the aluminum out of your recyclables are stealing. The money the city makes on aluminum goes to reduce trash collection costs. But it’s probably not a significant amount lost to those who take the easy pickings.

The people who do seek to make money on recycling tend to be very poor, anyway. If they didn’t get this money, they might be even more reliant on the city for services. But some people go a lot farther—stripping buildings of copper and and other valuable metals. Some even steal manhole covers—which is quite dangerous as well as being theft.

@wundayatta I like your point that the recycle collectors would possibly be on welfare anyway, so they are not actually costing us money.

Many people throw away a lot of information that would be valuable to thieves.

Your neighbor has no leverage. He has no right to tell you what to do with your garbage. I’d tell him to mind his own damn trash and business and that you don’t think people who pick up recyclables are criminals above all else but that you do think he’s paranoid and prejudiced.

i collect cans all the time, and today i was collecting some out of a recycle bin, when the people who’s house it was came home, and they seemed really freaked out. i feel kind of bad, but i also hope people realize, that people who collect cans are not criminals.