A homeowner in Melbourne has shared a picture of a woman going through their recycle bin to find bottles and cans while it was still inside inside their front yard.
Taking to Reddit, this week the startled woman said the ‘random’ person wandered through a gate into their property and helped themselves to the recyclables.
‘Is this normal? I have no issue with them doing so, but I would prefer if they only did it when the bin is out [on the kerb] for collection.’
Most Aussies were in agreement that it was ‘rude’ to go inside a person’s yard to rifle through their rubbish.
‘If the bin is on the nature strip, zero issues. If it’s on my property, you’re trespassing. Completely unacceptable for people to do that,’ one said.
‘Another rule to the list of using someone else’s bin etiquette – don’t make much noise or make a mess. Some people just can’t be trusted to not be a nuisance and use it ethically,’ another said.
‘We had someone come deep into our property at 11pm last night rifling through our recycle bin making a heap of noise… they disappeared quickly once I opened the front door – WTF,’ a third said.
‘Not normal. If the bins were out on council land its fine, but walking onto your property, no,’ a fourth added.
‘Because it is uninvited access aka trespassing. You never know who is looking to case your property to come back and rob you,’ said a fifth.
Some Aussies had compassion for the woman and suggested leaving the bottles and cans outside their gate.
‘We had someone do this at our old place and we started leaving them outside the fence, problem solved,’ one said.
‘Put them in a box so they don’t need to go through your bin, seems like a win-win,’ another said.
Not everyone was convinced, however.
‘Not sure how it’s a win for the person who has to organise their trash to make it easier for someone to take. People should not enter another person’s property for any reason.’
In Victoria it is an offence to enter someone’s property without legitimate reason.
It can lead to criminal penalties including fines up to $4,600 and civil penalties if there is any damaged caused.