"We all live together now and get on, but there's one issue that keeps coming up: the bins. We live in a split-level maisonette, and have an unspoken system with our upstairs neighbours, a couple in their 40s who've lived here longer than any of us. We share a back garden and two wheelie bins. They put the bins in front of our building before collection day, and I bring them back in."
"But when I'm away working I do event rigging, so I'm often gone for stretches Ben and Roisin let the whole system fall apart. They don't bring the bins back in, which causes friction with the neighbours. Sometimes, they don't even take our rubbish out on time, so it builds up as we only get our bins collected every two weeks. Our neighbours get annoyed and I don't blame them."
"They walk past the bins, strewn all over the road, on their way to work. It doesn't seem to bother them. But when our bins are left out front, random people start chucking their rubbish in. By the time we want to use them, they're already half-full with other people's dog poo and takeaway cartons. The system works when I'm around because I make the effort."
Three housemates share a split-level maisonette with upstairs neighbours and two wheelie bins; an unspoken system assigns bringing bins back after collection to one flatmate. That flatmate often handles the task, but when away for event-rigging stints Ben and Roisin fail to return bins or put rubbish out on time. As a result bins sit on the road, neighbours move them back or complain, and passing people deposit their rubbish, filling bins with dog faeces and takeaway cartons. Missed collections lead to smells and flies in summer. The situation causes ongoing tension and requests for more considerate behaviour.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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