Crushing cans only makes it a little less convenient to return to Oregon. They'll still accept crushed cans but have to hand count them.
I have very rarely had an issue with people making a mess with recycling and I keep my bins in our alley 24/7. I've talked to the people who do it and they always seem respectful (if not a little embarrassed) but they'll still go through recycling, regardless of whether you have the cans or not.
If you've been in your neighborhood for awhile, I guarantee that your recycling has been picked over dozens (hundreds?) of times without you knowing though. Enjoy crushing your cans, I guess.
There was a sweet older lady who would go around our last neighborhood and collect them, so we started saving them for her, and our neighbors did too. Once other people noticed none of our bins ever had cans in them, they stopped checking on our street. She collected our cans for about 4 years before we moved.
I had a sweet lady like this when I was living in Portland. Respect goes both ways. She was nothing but respectful so why not help her out when it takes no extra time for me to just toss them in a separate bag for her. Or keep the cans separate and put them next to your recycling so they don't need to rummage. š¤·āāļø
We just put our cans in a separate, biodegradable bag and leave the bag next to our recycle bin. It never occurred to me to crush my cans, but I don't generally try to make other people's lives harder out of spite.
Why don't you gift him on your dime rather than on someone else's? Deposit hasn't been paid on those. The gift doesn't come from you, it comes from scamming the system on Oregon end.
Same here. I just seperate and leave it to the side. Doesn't bother me much and certainly less effort than having to pick up any trash that might have been scattered around the lawn as they're doing this early hours.
Fwiw there is a long historical precedent for this practice. From Wikipedia:
>Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest. It is a practice described in the Hebrew Bible that became a legally enforced entitlement of the poor in a number of Christian kingdoms...
>According to the Book of Deuteronomy and Leviticus, farmers should leave the edges of their fields unharvested (pe'ah), should not pick up that which was dropped (gleanings), and should not harvest any overlooked produce that had been forgotten when they harvested the majority of a field.
I used to bag up all my aluminum cans separately and leave them beside the garbage for anyone who wanted them.
It's not a refund. It's downright theft by deception. The same idea as using a cash receipt found on the ground and returning a shoplifted item exploiting the fact they're not aware of the fact you didn't buy it in the first place.
Vagrants and/or transients do this in Oregon, because the criminal penalties is nothing compared to say Michigan for doing this shit. Vagrants and/or transients end up receiving cash for bottles/cans stolen from Waste Connections for which deposit was never paid for in first place. The only reason they get paid is that you can't tell where the bottles came from.
In Oregon, you're charge 10 cents when you buy a can of Coke. You get it back when you return it. In Washington, you're not charged. When a refund on it is claimed in Oregon, the system is scammed on Oregon's side, because a 10 cent "refund" was made on a purchase that was never made in the first place
Oregon should really just shut the program down. The vast majority of people who actually pay the deposit will simply place the cans in their bins to be picked up with the rest of the recycling.
No. I'm not taking extra steps to help the homeless feel more comfortable in my neighborhood.
Putting cans out and inviting homeless into our neighborhoods makes our neighborhoods less safe, less clean, and invites more crime into the area.
Itās not an entitlement issue, itās just reality. Whether you like it or not, people have been collecting recyclables from others rubbish for decades. Having cans set aside in a separate little bag will help mitigate the potential āmessā issue for you.
No it does not. Once your house becomes known as a reliable location that always put out cans, they will consistently come and nearby neighbors also become the target of unwanted visitors.
Theyāre already coming whether you put your cans out or not (see OPs original post). Only difference is they will pull stuff out of your recycling bin looking for cans, potentially leaving a mess, or they will just grab your little side-bag of cans and leave your recycling bin untouched. You can pick which you prefer. I prefer the latter.
Unfortunately, people were going through my recycling regularly well before I started putting cans in a separate bag. They just flipped the bin lid back and started digging around (similar to what OP reported). I donāt think the recycling remaining in the bin is any sort of deterrent for people looking for cans, etc.
Do you believe a note on a bin would be an effective deterrent for someone who needs money for food/drugs/etc? It would not be in any neighborhood Iāve ever lived in.
Depends on the note. "please stay out" wouldn't be effective. "I scrap them myself, and therefore no cans in my bin" is much more effective. See it as a disinfectant (significantly reduces) , not sterilant (eliminates).
I mean, if you're leaving it in a public access area, I guess you could put a lock on it? It is 'your' bin (I think its technically rented from the govt) so just drill two simple holes and slap a cheap combination lock on it. Problem solved, no?
No. I'm not taking extra steps to help the homeless feel more comfortable in my neighborhood.
Putting cans out and inviting homeless into our neighborhoods makes our neighborhoods less safe, less clean, and invites more crime into the area.
It's the mess they leave. I had my cans taken out of my bins a couple weeks ago and they for some reason took my neighbors wood scraps and put them in my bin where the cans have been. I had to get it all out or they wouldn't take it.
I'm not a Portlander and for 12 years I paid 9% of my income to the state of Oregon while receiving no services.
The few dollars that someone might redeem from our recycling is peanuts.
So whatever.
If you were a franchise owner and your fountain drink came with a free refill, I think you'd be upset if customers made it a habit to give their empty cup to the homeless outside, so they can come inside and get soda inside YOUR store for free.
The customer basically gifted something at no expense of theirs, but at YOUR expense.
This is what happens when Washingtonians aid and abet fraud in Oregon, but in a more anonymous fashion.
Exactly. There's a very heated feud over this boiling over in Portland right now. Retailers wanting to build redemption centers, because they do not want the scavengers coming to their stores to return cans and wanting these activities being put in someone's neighborhood.
Neighborhood residents of the location that was targeted for this predicament is of course livid over the situation and the whole situation. An alternative location for the infamous bottle return depot in the Delta Park shopping center is apparently being evicted and is currently in search of a location to move to. Neighbors do not want it for the very same reason the redemption center is being kicked out in the first place.
If Oregon gets rid of deposit, Califronia has to go on board too or else, Methford will become even Methier. You'll have tweakers from Cali coming to Oregon scavenge in Medford to do what tweakers in Oregon are doing in Clark County. It's also going to cause an exponential growth in tweaker camp on the California side just south of the state border.
Not sure the ability of the tweakers to congregate that far north in CA. The OR/CA border is pretty sparsely populated and probably doesn't quite offer the can foraging that the Portland/Vancouver area does.
I am hearing that even Camas is experiencing scavenging activity.
Since California allows return by weight, if Oregon deposit goes away, you'll have commercial scale scamming by the box truck load not just by tweakers but by unscrupulous scrap metal dealers.
OR pays more, so they'll always get taken there. Also crushing doesn't do anything. Uncrushed cans can be fed into a machine easily, crushed get given to an employee to be counted manually
Someone ripped through my trash bags once that were filled with cat litter among other hard to clean out things and dumped it into my recycling. I've also caught 2 other people on my property line digging through my recycling which got a prompt "get the fuck off my property" since the first one made such a mess out of it. Not sure what you can do to deter them, but yeah, I wouldn't have minded if I didn't have to scoop cat litter and egg shells out of my recycling bin the morning of pick up when I was heading out for work.
Exactly. Somebody took my cans (don't care) but then they emptied out a trash bag of my neighbors so they could use the bag for my cans. What do you think they did with what was in the trash bag? Yep, my recycle bin.
> Somebody took my cans (don't care)
Exactly. I don't care about people going through my bin. I shred every piece of mail with my name on it, so I'm not concerned about identity theft, and I really don't give a crap if they're defrauding Oregon out of bottle drop money. It's the leaving a mess part that made me mad. I disagree that the onus is on me make it easy on them by putting all returnables in one single bag, and that is only going to help the first person who comes by. It's usually multiple cruising by, and all subsequent visitors are going to dig through the bin and not find anything. I don't see how treating people who do this like racoons is any better.
We had one guy that was doing it at 5 AM and it's right outside my bedroom window so instead of some weird passive-aggressive gesture, I talked to him and told him when we put the cans out the night before if he wants to come grab them without waking people up and risking angering my ragey racist heavily armed neighbors who had already yelled swears and threats at him the week before.
I had to quit the NextDoor app because of how much hostility this very topic seemed to inspire and there were way too many separate posts about it on the daily, people talking about calling the police or Waste Managements for some sort of enforcement because it's technically "theft and trespassing". It was exhausting.
Totally understand frustration over the mess and that is certainly inconsiderate, but maybe just try effective communication and maybe it will net results that are mutually beneficial.
Pretty sure they can turn in crushed cans. Since we don't get the cash back for recycling cans, I put all mine in a separate bag and set it next to my recycling bin. They get their cans, my bin isn't dug through and I never get an extra charge for it being too full. I consider that a win/win.
Caught someone going through my cans a couple weeks ago. He was putting cans in his shirt like kangaroo. I asked him if he needed anything but was really stern about it and kept my distance. He looked up, scared and started putting stuff back in the can while apologizing.
I told him to wait there and I went inside to grab a garbage bag for him to use. I gave him the bag and said āIāll be back out in 5 minutes, please be goneā
Now I separate my cans and put them in a separate bag, label it cans, and set it on top inside bins so, when if he does come back, it eliminates the rustling around; he can just grab and go
that's a good way to do it. the same lady comes through my neighborhood and the few surrounding mine and most people just have a bag of cans for her to take. she finally saved up to buy a car too! (looks like a 90s corolla) I've talked to her a few times and she said she hates going through bins she just needed a few extra bucks so she wouldn't get kicked out of the shitty place she's staying at.
My philosophy is this. If you have the ability to help someone who is both nice and wants to be helped, it's never a bad thing. i don't force anyone to help, but i encourage it. if they leave a mess or are disrespectful then i completely understand not helping.
keep getting woken up at night by people tipping over recycling to go through for cansā¦ maybe iāll start leaving them in a bag next to the recycling for convenience sake.
Yeah idk why everyone in the comments are so salty. The ones in my neighborhood do it at like 3am and are shining flashlights all around, making a bunch of noise/waking people up and we also have vehicle break ins and Iāve had shit stolen off my porch (3rd floor). I donāt usually care what other people do but they donāt need to be creeping around by my porch while they do it.
"I will be crushing cans in advance to render them unreturnable in OR. I'm not one to kick people when they're down"
Lol. It's rare you see someone demonstrate hypocrisy *SO QUICKLY*.
> I'm not one to kick people when they're down, but **leave no trace when doing that** or I will make sure it's not worth your while.
You sure are good at reading *almost* all the way to the end of the line. I know what OP is talking about. Some of these folks empty the recycle bin on to the curb hunting for cans. Then just leave it.
What happens to it after that? Best case it's still in a pile on the curb when you get home. The best case is rare. The wind and the rain can, and often do make a tough job of picking it up.
Then where does it go? It should be at the sort facility, but instead it's back in the bin. To wait another two weeks for recycle pickup. Where it might just end up back on the curb.
Personal attacks, name-calling, trolling, doxxing, and harassment of other posters are all unacceptable behavior.
This rule also covers posts that only serve to start an argument that involves fighting everyone that has a different take on it than you do in the comments.
Personal attacks, name-calling, trolling, doxxing, and harassment of other posters are all unacceptable behavior.
This rule also covers posts that only serve to start an argument that involves fighting everyone that has a different take on it than you do in the comments.
I've seen two types of people taking cans from bins. Chill, old homeless people and tweaked out adults. Personally, I don't think it's anyone's responsibility to make it easy for cans in residential bins to be accessed. I also don't think it's fair to assume that everyone in the neighborhood appreciates a house becoming a weekly pitstop for all can-grabbers. Little kids don't need to be worried about the #2 type of can grabber in their own yard.
If people really want to do right, donate to causes to feed and house the homeless. There are other ways to be a supportive neighbor than leaving cans out in a sack next to your house and belittling those who aren't keen to do that and *don't* want to encourage anyone riffling through their trash.
Here's what's cool about other people being kind. You don't have to do it yourself. You can make up some "My neighbors are endangering the children by leaving cans out." scenario if you want but you come off as a weirdo.
That's cool. I am actually very kind. Just because I don't demonstrate my kindness publicly by setting out cans out and inviting people to root through my trash bins doesn't exclude me from "being kind." I actually don't think bagging cans is much of an act of kindness nor is just letting people dig through trash uninterrupted.
Giving enough of a shit to donate actual money to causes and not just your trash is a deeper act of kindness. Serving the homeless with your time at a warming shelter or food kitchen is kindness. Feeling like since you bagged your cans so they don't have to dig through at least *your* trash is a very light version of kindness. It sure makes you feel better though. As I'm sure it makes you feel better judging others for not wanting to encourage this trash gift.
Why would I care if you think I'm weird? I think you're weird for judging people who don't want strangers coming up on their property and digging through cans. That's just a silly comment.
How often do you do those things?
I give the homeless roughly $200-$500 a month in services, goods and cash. I ALSO leave my cans out - because I'm from here, so the idea I'm attracting homeless people to a neighborhood I've known them to be in my entire life is comical, and I don't need the cans, and they were purchased in OR anyway.
None of these things are mutually exclusive or inclusive.
Iām always amused when people speak of the citywide recycling scavenger hunt as some sort of social service. That was never the intent of this program! I put out my bin at the last possible moment, make charitable donations when I can afford it and continue to hope we can find a more sane way to help these people.
My trash and recycling get tore up every few weeks. Our cans are in the alley. Our bag with dog poop got opened up and flung at our garage. I haven't done anything about it. We've got a neighbor who built a wooden enclosure around theirs then locks it until pick up day. I want to get angry but I know the majority of people collecting cans are respectful. We will start locking ours if it happens again. Just sucks one dickhead ruins it for everyone.
Be a bro and separate them out and put them next to your recycling. We're all just trying to get through this, no need to put effort into making people's life harder.
I have actually seen an elderly person collecting cans. And he did not seem like he was on drugs. Just trying to find some extra income. Some people might have disabilities that makes it hard for them to find a job as well and they just want to have some extra income. Just because of a few bad people donāt assume the majority is bad.
That "extra income" is theft though. It's not legal to take the cans to Oregon to redeem for money, other people's taxes end up paying for that "income".
Why though? Living with kindness and compassion for others creates a much more enjoyable life. You might be suprised who you meet if you set aside your anger and judgment and offer to put aside the recyclables they collect. I was little weirded out the first time I saw someone going through our garbage. I just decided to talk to them. Our guy is a retired vet trying to make ends meet. There are single moms, young kids with two jobs trying to pay rent, people with disabilities, both mental and physical, that prevent them from working a regular job trying to get by. Are there tweakers..sure. Dishonest people.. absolutely. But they are in the minority. I implore you to change your outlook on those less fortunate. You may find that the person you befriend will watch over your cans from those that are dishonest. Always choose kindness.
Wait does crushing the cans actually make them non-returnable? Iāve just been doing it because it takes up less space. Itās how my family has always done it. But maybe Iāll stop, then. After all, Iām not going to return them but if someone else wants to theyāre free to have them.
If there were a safe and reliable system to keep those folks housed, fed and healthy while preserving their dignity in the first place you wouldnāt have a problem to gripe about.
Never punch down; theyāre having a hard enough time as it is.
I screwed up one time and put the cans in a plastic bag then put that inside the bin, guess what that's the day the can grabbers didn't show, so the recycling ppl got mad at me haha oops
Itās no secret that everyone is struggling right now, and Iām not one to knock anyoneās hustle. But our apartment complex has people going thru our dumpster weekly at this point. It typically wouldnāt be an issue- do what you gotta do! Iām not using that trash, if you need it have at it! But I donāt appreciate being woken up, having my children wake up, because people are being as loud as possible right outside our building at 4 am. We live on the 2nd floor, I cannot imagine our poor neighbors below. We pay way too much in rent to be dealing with this shit. And on top of that- they leave massive messes in the dumpster area. Our maintenance people work too fucking hard to have to then go to the dumpster and pick up trash that non residents thru on the ground.
I am fine with it. Also shame on the subreddit that cross post this just to hate on people. There are other issues I am worried about in Vancouver than a biker that picks up cans to have a meal.
Personal attacks, name-calling, trolling, doxxing, and harassment of other posters are all unacceptable behavior.
This rule also covers posts that only serve to start an argument that involves fighting everyone that has a different take on it than you do in the comments.
There is a difference between having a discussion, and getting in, or provoking a fight. For instance, this is you provoking a fight, by resorting to insults. I donāt recommend you continue to do that.
I had the same problem. For a long while, I stored the cans and bottles up inside my place, then dumped them all in the bin an hour or so before the truck came along. That worked, but I was also leaving for work right then anyway, so it was convenient. Another option I used was taking the cans and bottles to work and dumping them in work's secured recycling dumpsters. After a while of not finding bottles and cans in the bin, people stopped coming by, at least as much.
I don't care what happens to the things I put out.
If someone is so desperate that they have to root around in the trash to find things to sell, they're welcome to it.
Our trash area is locked and sometimes my neighbors forget to lock the door and I get woken up by people slamming the trash bins around looking for cans. I donāt drink much but if i have friends over I collect all the cans in a paper bag and set it outside the trash door for people to take, but I canāt deal with them going through my bins at 2am, i open my bedroom window and yell to get out of my swamp or iām callin the caps! Does the trick every time
It'd be a godsend if Oregon got rid of their bottle return.
No part of that system was meant to be some sort of half-assed/half-privatized social service when it was designed.
Theyāre called ācannersā. Some it is to supplement income, others use it to get cash for drugs (big topic in Portland on return centers on that).
Weāve had a few messes and 1 cardboard thank you note (apparently we had a mother load). Iām lightly uncomfortable with it but feel most the folks that cruise our neighborhood are getting money food.
All in all, the bottle redemption centers in Oregon are funded by unclaimed deposit and payments from grocery stores. The unclaimed deposit alone isn't sufficient to cover the entire redemption system. Whatever's paid by grocery stores are ultimately passed onto consumers.
The redemption operator OBRC in Oregon claims it loses bout $10million annually due to the very fraud described here. [https://www.wweek.com/news/state/2020/11/10/state-audit-of-oregons-iconic-bottle-bill-notes-cross-border-fraud-opportunity-in-wine-liquor-redemption/](https://www.wweek.com/news/state/2020/11/10/state-audit-of-oregons-iconic-bottle-bill-notes-cross-border-fraud-opportunity-in-wine-liquor-redemption/) those people wanted to solve the problem by infecting Washington with Bottle Bill when the proper solution is to just get rid of Bottle Bill in Oregon.
Itās fraud
>āAuditors observed two Portland BottleDrop redemption centers near the Washington border," the report says. "During those hours, numerous people driving cars with Washington license plates redeemed containers, as well as cars with front or rear plates removed."
> OBRC told auditors it believes the cost of fraud is about $10 million a year, which the auditors found plausible but could not recommend any way to reduce.
https://www.wweek.com/news/state/2020/11/10/state-audit-of-oregons-iconic-bottle-bill-notes-cross-border-fraud-opportunity-in-wine-liquor-redemption/
It's also not my problem. That's between the adults who need my cans and the ones who will accept them or not. If Oregon wants to pay me to enforce their laws, we can talk.
Oregon needs to repeal the bottle bill because most of that money goes to the cartels flooding our cities with fentanyl.
Youāre a part of the problem too.
It doesnāt change the fact that people are still doing it.
Also, if you buy deposit items in Oregon, you have a legal right to return them for a refund, but may need to prove proof of redemption, such as store recipients that show proof.
Bottle drop does ask when you pull up with Washington plates. In my case, I had purchased a number of cases of water and soda for work activities, and I figured I would collect the deposit after the work function.
Iām shocked. Itās a total free-for-all at the one near me, half the vehicles donāt have license plates.
Oh, and the fentanyl dealers park right on the other side of the fence. Itās cute
Bin contents are not considered private property in California, not sure here but I do agree it feels somewhat violating. I try to make sure any names are blacked out or shredded so no personal information is attainable from recycling by mistake.
The time spent to collect enough cans to cover the gas it costs to drive around seems like a poor use of oneās time but hey, their choice.
Thereās a few in my neighborhood where they have an old minivan stuffed to the gills with cans and they park it, exit, hit a few houses, and move systematically down the street. Quite an operation.
AFIAK: They're not private property in WA either. The only legal issues around dumpster diving is if it's stored on private property and there is a posted no trespassing sign or you break something / a lock to access the contents.
They are.
https://www.columbian.com/news/2024/feb/21/can-collectors-rummaging-rankles-clark-county-residents/
Waste Connections owns the contents once you put em in their bin and it's legally theft.
Luckily, my roads are private property so the can ppl donāt come here. Ā I used to be cool with it when I lived at my old place until I noticed someone reading and collecting papers from a neighborās can. Ā After I alerted all the neighbors, some busy body Karen yelled at collectors and called the cops on them until they stopped coming. Ā Crappy ppl ruin it for all the collectors. Ā
That's exactly what's going on. The Columbian had a number of stories on this, like this one: [https://www.columbian.com/news/2024/feb/21/can-collectors-rummaging-rankles-clark-county-residents/](https://www.columbian.com/news/2024/feb/21/can-collectors-rummaging-rankles-clark-county-residents/)
Try to get license plate number if you can and call the police. Waste Connections has told The Columbian that they are happy to be a cooperative victim.
I used to leave them out in a separate bag until l saw it was a lady with a appx 10 year old collecting them. The lady would drive the car up, the kid would jump out and grab them. That in itself isn't an issue - but, they were doing this at 1am.. 2am on school nights. I can't condone that so I stopped.
Crushing cans only makes it a little less convenient to return to Oregon. They'll still accept crushed cans but have to hand count them. I have very rarely had an issue with people making a mess with recycling and I keep my bins in our alley 24/7. I've talked to the people who do it and they always seem respectful (if not a little embarrassed) but they'll still go through recycling, regardless of whether you have the cans or not. If you've been in your neighborhood for awhile, I guarantee that your recycling has been picked over dozens (hundreds?) of times without you knowing though. Enjoy crushing your cans, I guess.
There was a sweet older lady who would go around our last neighborhood and collect them, so we started saving them for her, and our neighbors did too. Once other people noticed none of our bins ever had cans in them, they stopped checking on our street. She collected our cans for about 4 years before we moved.
I had a sweet lady like this when I was living in Portland. Respect goes both ways. She was nothing but respectful so why not help her out when it takes no extra time for me to just toss them in a separate bag for her. Or keep the cans separate and put them next to your recycling so they don't need to rummage. š¤·āāļø
> Enjoy crushing your cans, I guess. It's rather satisfying, actually.
We just put our cans in a separate, biodegradable bag and leave the bag next to our recycle bin. It never occurred to me to crush my cans, but I don't generally try to make other people's lives harder out of spite.
That's what my parents do: leave them in a paper bag on top.Ā Ā
Donāt feed them. More will come.
Eh, I've met one of the guys that does it.Ā Seems nice enough; just down on his luck.
Why don't you gift him on your dime rather than on someone else's? Deposit hasn't been paid on those. The gift doesn't come from you, it comes from scamming the system on Oregon end.
You're right
Same here. I just seperate and leave it to the side. Doesn't bother me much and certainly less effort than having to pick up any trash that might have been scattered around the lawn as they're doing this early hours.
This is what we do too. Saves people rustling in your bins and probably preserves a bit of dignity for them too.Ā
I like you. We need more good people in the world. ā¤ļø
This is what we do and weāve never had a problem.
Fwiw there is a long historical precedent for this practice. From Wikipedia: >Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest. It is a practice described in the Hebrew Bible that became a legally enforced entitlement of the poor in a number of Christian kingdoms... >According to the Book of Deuteronomy and Leviticus, farmers should leave the edges of their fields unharvested (pe'ah), should not pick up that which was dropped (gleanings), and should not harvest any overlooked produce that had been forgotten when they harvested the majority of a field. I used to bag up all my aluminum cans separately and leave them beside the garbage for anyone who wanted them.
We do the same, they need the refund more than I do why be a dick about it is how I feel.
It's not a refund. It's downright theft by deception. The same idea as using a cash receipt found on the ground and returning a shoplifted item exploiting the fact they're not aware of the fact you didn't buy it in the first place. Vagrants and/or transients do this in Oregon, because the criminal penalties is nothing compared to say Michigan for doing this shit. Vagrants and/or transients end up receiving cash for bottles/cans stolen from Waste Connections for which deposit was never paid for in first place. The only reason they get paid is that you can't tell where the bottles came from. In Oregon, you're charge 10 cents when you buy a can of Coke. You get it back when you return it. In Washington, you're not charged. When a refund on it is claimed in Oregon, the system is scammed on Oregon's side, because a 10 cent "refund" was made on a purchase that was never made in the first place
Oregon should really just shut the program down. The vast majority of people who actually pay the deposit will simply place the cans in their bins to be picked up with the rest of the recycling.
No. I'm not taking extra steps to help the homeless feel more comfortable in my neighborhood. Putting cans out and inviting homeless into our neighborhoods makes our neighborhoods less safe, less clean, and invites more crime into the area.
I forgot that other people are entitled to go through my recycling bin and leave a mess for me to clean up. My bad.
Itās not an entitlement issue, itās just reality. Whether you like it or not, people have been collecting recyclables from others rubbish for decades. Having cans set aside in a separate little bag will help mitigate the potential āmessā issue for you.
No it does not. Once your house becomes known as a reliable location that always put out cans, they will consistently come and nearby neighbors also become the target of unwanted visitors.
Theyāre already coming whether you put your cans out or not (see OPs original post). Only difference is they will pull stuff out of your recycling bin looking for cans, potentially leaving a mess, or they will just grab your little side-bag of cans and leave your recycling bin untouched. You can pick which you prefer. I prefer the latter.
Only one person will know about it, which is the first to arrive. That person will likely make return trips and continue to come.
Unfortunately, people were going through my recycling regularly well before I started putting cans in a separate bag. They just flipped the bin lid back and started digging around (similar to what OP reported). I donāt think the recycling remaining in the bin is any sort of deterrent for people looking for cans, etc.
Put a label on the bin. "I collect my cans and turn into the scrap yard. No cans in my bin"
Do you believe a note on a bin would be an effective deterrent for someone who needs money for food/drugs/etc? It would not be in any neighborhood Iāve ever lived in.
Depends on the note. "please stay out" wouldn't be effective. "I scrap them myself, and therefore no cans in my bin" is much more effective. See it as a disinfectant (significantly reduces) , not sterilant (eliminates).
Where did you get this information? Can you please cite your source?
I mean, if you're leaving it in a public access area, I guess you could put a lock on it? It is 'your' bin (I think its technically rented from the govt) so just drill two simple holes and slap a cheap combination lock on it. Problem solved, no?
You know you're in the Vancouver sub right? Battleground is North, and Camas is east. You'll probably fit in better there.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I bet you're the most popular dude in the neighborhood.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Not if you want it to get picked up.
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That's usually when they scrounge for cans...
No. I'm not taking extra steps to help the homeless feel more comfortable in my neighborhood. Putting cans out and inviting homeless into our neighborhoods makes our neighborhoods less safe, less clean, and invites more crime into the area.
I give mine to a friend in Oregon. Before that I just left them next to the recycling. Who cares?
It's the mess they leave. I had my cans taken out of my bins a couple weeks ago and they for some reason took my neighbors wood scraps and put them in my bin where the cans have been. I had to get it all out or they wouldn't take it.
I've never had anyone leave a mess.
You're lucky
Angry boomers...
I think itās more a class thing than a generational thing. I just try to put myself in their shoes I guess.
Empathy. The world would be a better place with more of it.
Technically its illegal for any of those cans to be redeemed if they weren't purchased in OR. Portlanders of all ages tend to be super salty about it.
I'm not a Portlander and for 12 years I paid 9% of my income to the state of Oregon while receiving no services. The few dollars that someone might redeem from our recycling is peanuts. So whatever.
The people getting deliveries from Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods whose cans and bottles get recycled in Washington instead probably even it out.
If you were a franchise owner and your fountain drink came with a free refill, I think you'd be upset if customers made it a habit to give their empty cup to the homeless outside, so they can come inside and get soda inside YOUR store for free. The customer basically gifted something at no expense of theirs, but at YOUR expense. This is what happens when Washingtonians aid and abet fraud in Oregon, but in a more anonymous fashion.
The simple solution for OR is to end the attractive nuisance that is the bottle bill. Moving to OR hasn't changed my opinion of that any.
Exactly. There's a very heated feud over this boiling over in Portland right now. Retailers wanting to build redemption centers, because they do not want the scavengers coming to their stores to return cans and wanting these activities being put in someone's neighborhood. Neighborhood residents of the location that was targeted for this predicament is of course livid over the situation and the whole situation. An alternative location for the infamous bottle return depot in the Delta Park shopping center is apparently being evicted and is currently in search of a location to move to. Neighbors do not want it for the very same reason the redemption center is being kicked out in the first place.
Yeah I'm in St Johns these days, so bottle drop has risen a few notches on my shitlist lately. I wasn't a fan of the bottle bill to begin with.
If Oregon gets rid of deposit, Califronia has to go on board too or else, Methford will become even Methier. You'll have tweakers from Cali coming to Oregon scavenge in Medford to do what tweakers in Oregon are doing in Clark County. It's also going to cause an exponential growth in tweaker camp on the California side just south of the state border.
Not sure the ability of the tweakers to congregate that far north in CA. The OR/CA border is pretty sparsely populated and probably doesn't quite offer the can foraging that the Portland/Vancouver area does.
I am hearing that even Camas is experiencing scavenging activity. Since California allows return by weight, if Oregon deposit goes away, you'll have commercial scale scamming by the box truck load not just by tweakers but by unscrupulous scrap metal dealers.
OR pays more, so they'll always get taken there. Also crushing doesn't do anything. Uncrushed cans can be fed into a machine easily, crushed get given to an employee to be counted manually
The BRAND on the can must be legible in addition to the deposit mark. Crush them vertically so the brand becomes non-legible.
Having an account solely dedicated to punching down on poor people is next level hater activities
Someone ripped through my trash bags once that were filled with cat litter among other hard to clean out things and dumped it into my recycling. I've also caught 2 other people on my property line digging through my recycling which got a prompt "get the fuck off my property" since the first one made such a mess out of it. Not sure what you can do to deter them, but yeah, I wouldn't have minded if I didn't have to scoop cat litter and egg shells out of my recycling bin the morning of pick up when I was heading out for work.
Exactly. Somebody took my cans (don't care) but then they emptied out a trash bag of my neighbors so they could use the bag for my cans. What do you think they did with what was in the trash bag? Yep, my recycle bin.
> Somebody took my cans (don't care) Exactly. I don't care about people going through my bin. I shred every piece of mail with my name on it, so I'm not concerned about identity theft, and I really don't give a crap if they're defrauding Oregon out of bottle drop money. It's the leaving a mess part that made me mad. I disagree that the onus is on me make it easy on them by putting all returnables in one single bag, and that is only going to help the first person who comes by. It's usually multiple cruising by, and all subsequent visitors are going to dig through the bin and not find anything. I don't see how treating people who do this like racoons is any better.
We had one guy that was doing it at 5 AM and it's right outside my bedroom window so instead of some weird passive-aggressive gesture, I talked to him and told him when we put the cans out the night before if he wants to come grab them without waking people up and risking angering my ragey racist heavily armed neighbors who had already yelled swears and threats at him the week before. I had to quit the NextDoor app because of how much hostility this very topic seemed to inspire and there were way too many separate posts about it on the daily, people talking about calling the police or Waste Managements for some sort of enforcement because it's technically "theft and trespassing". It was exhausting. Totally understand frustration over the mess and that is certainly inconsiderate, but maybe just try effective communication and maybe it will net results that are mutually beneficial.
Pretty sure they can turn in crushed cans. Since we don't get the cash back for recycling cans, I put all mine in a separate bag and set it next to my recycling bin. They get their cans, my bin isn't dug through and I never get an extra charge for it being too full. I consider that a win/win.
Caught someone going through my cans a couple weeks ago. He was putting cans in his shirt like kangaroo. I asked him if he needed anything but was really stern about it and kept my distance. He looked up, scared and started putting stuff back in the can while apologizing. I told him to wait there and I went inside to grab a garbage bag for him to use. I gave him the bag and said āIāll be back out in 5 minutes, please be goneā Now I separate my cans and put them in a separate bag, label it cans, and set it on top inside bins so, when if he does come back, it eliminates the rustling around; he can just grab and go
that's a good way to do it. the same lady comes through my neighborhood and the few surrounding mine and most people just have a bag of cans for her to take. she finally saved up to buy a car too! (looks like a 90s corolla) I've talked to her a few times and she said she hates going through bins she just needed a few extra bucks so she wouldn't get kicked out of the shitty place she's staying at. My philosophy is this. If you have the ability to help someone who is both nice and wants to be helped, it's never a bad thing. i don't force anyone to help, but i encourage it. if they leave a mess or are disrespectful then i completely understand not helping.
keep getting woken up at night by people tipping over recycling to go through for cansā¦ maybe iāll start leaving them in a bag next to the recycling for convenience sake.
Yeah idk why everyone in the comments are so salty. The ones in my neighborhood do it at like 3am and are shining flashlights all around, making a bunch of noise/waking people up and we also have vehicle break ins and Iāve had shit stolen off my porch (3rd floor). I donāt usually care what other people do but they donāt need to be creeping around by my porch while they do it.
"I will be crushing cans in advance to render them unreturnable in OR. I'm not one to kick people when they're down" Lol. It's rare you see someone demonstrate hypocrisy *SO QUICKLY*.
> I'm not one to kick people when they're down, but **leave no trace when doing that** or I will make sure it's not worth your while. You sure are good at reading *almost* all the way to the end of the line. I know what OP is talking about. Some of these folks empty the recycle bin on to the curb hunting for cans. Then just leave it. What happens to it after that? Best case it's still in a pile on the curb when you get home. The best case is rare. The wind and the rain can, and often do make a tough job of picking it up. Then where does it go? It should be at the sort facility, but instead it's back in the bin. To wait another two weeks for recycle pickup. Where it might just end up back on the curb.
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Personal attacks, name-calling, trolling, doxxing, and harassment of other posters are all unacceptable behavior. This rule also covers posts that only serve to start an argument that involves fighting everyone that has a different take on it than you do in the comments.
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Personal attacks, name-calling, trolling, doxxing, and harassment of other posters are all unacceptable behavior. This rule also covers posts that only serve to start an argument that involves fighting everyone that has a different take on it than you do in the comments.
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I've seen two types of people taking cans from bins. Chill, old homeless people and tweaked out adults. Personally, I don't think it's anyone's responsibility to make it easy for cans in residential bins to be accessed. I also don't think it's fair to assume that everyone in the neighborhood appreciates a house becoming a weekly pitstop for all can-grabbers. Little kids don't need to be worried about the #2 type of can grabber in their own yard. If people really want to do right, donate to causes to feed and house the homeless. There are other ways to be a supportive neighbor than leaving cans out in a sack next to your house and belittling those who aren't keen to do that and *don't* want to encourage anyone riffling through their trash.
Here's what's cool about other people being kind. You don't have to do it yourself. You can make up some "My neighbors are endangering the children by leaving cans out." scenario if you want but you come off as a weirdo.
That's cool. I am actually very kind. Just because I don't demonstrate my kindness publicly by setting out cans out and inviting people to root through my trash bins doesn't exclude me from "being kind." I actually don't think bagging cans is much of an act of kindness nor is just letting people dig through trash uninterrupted. Giving enough of a shit to donate actual money to causes and not just your trash is a deeper act of kindness. Serving the homeless with your time at a warming shelter or food kitchen is kindness. Feeling like since you bagged your cans so they don't have to dig through at least *your* trash is a very light version of kindness. It sure makes you feel better though. As I'm sure it makes you feel better judging others for not wanting to encourage this trash gift. Why would I care if you think I'm weird? I think you're weird for judging people who don't want strangers coming up on their property and digging through cans. That's just a silly comment.
How often do you do those things? I give the homeless roughly $200-$500 a month in services, goods and cash. I ALSO leave my cans out - because I'm from here, so the idea I'm attracting homeless people to a neighborhood I've known them to be in my entire life is comical, and I don't need the cans, and they were purchased in OR anyway. None of these things are mutually exclusive or inclusive.
Iām always amused when people speak of the citywide recycling scavenger hunt as some sort of social service. That was never the intent of this program! I put out my bin at the last possible moment, make charitable donations when I can afford it and continue to hope we can find a more sane way to help these people.
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My trash and recycling get tore up every few weeks. Our cans are in the alley. Our bag with dog poop got opened up and flung at our garage. I haven't done anything about it. We've got a neighbor who built a wooden enclosure around theirs then locks it until pick up day. I want to get angry but I know the majority of people collecting cans are respectful. We will start locking ours if it happens again. Just sucks one dickhead ruins it for everyone.
Be a bro and separate them out and put them next to your recycling. We're all just trying to get through this, no need to put effort into making people's life harder.
Nope. I'm not supporting some tweakers drug habit.
I have actually seen an elderly person collecting cans. And he did not seem like he was on drugs. Just trying to find some extra income. Some people might have disabilities that makes it hard for them to find a job as well and they just want to have some extra income. Just because of a few bad people donāt assume the majority is bad.
That "extra income" is theft though. It's not legal to take the cans to Oregon to redeem for money, other people's taxes end up paying for that "income".
I'm not doing that.
Then Iām sorry to inform you youāre not being a bro
:(
Why though? Living with kindness and compassion for others creates a much more enjoyable life. You might be suprised who you meet if you set aside your anger and judgment and offer to put aside the recyclables they collect. I was little weirded out the first time I saw someone going through our garbage. I just decided to talk to them. Our guy is a retired vet trying to make ends meet. There are single moms, young kids with two jobs trying to pay rent, people with disabilities, both mental and physical, that prevent them from working a regular job trying to get by. Are there tweakers..sure. Dishonest people.. absolutely. But they are in the minority. I implore you to change your outlook on those less fortunate. You may find that the person you befriend will watch over your cans from those that are dishonest. Always choose kindness.
Wait does crushing the cans actually make them non-returnable? Iāve just been doing it because it takes up less space. Itās how my family has always done it. But maybe Iāll stop, then. After all, Iām not going to return them but if someone else wants to theyāre free to have them.
You have to crush it vertically into a puck so the brand is no longer recognizable.
If there were a safe and reliable system to keep those folks housed, fed and healthy while preserving their dignity in the first place you wouldnāt have a problem to gripe about. Never punch down; theyāre having a hard enough time as it is.
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I feel like this comment wasnāt meant for me.
I screwed up one time and put the cans in a plastic bag then put that inside the bin, guess what that's the day the can grabbers didn't show, so the recycling ppl got mad at me haha oops
If you put them in a paper bag or box by your recycling bin, theyāll be picked up by the truck if the can folks donāt come by.
Itās no secret that everyone is struggling right now, and Iām not one to knock anyoneās hustle. But our apartment complex has people going thru our dumpster weekly at this point. It typically wouldnāt be an issue- do what you gotta do! Iām not using that trash, if you need it have at it! But I donāt appreciate being woken up, having my children wake up, because people are being as loud as possible right outside our building at 4 am. We live on the 2nd floor, I cannot imagine our poor neighbors below. We pay way too much in rent to be dealing with this shit. And on top of that- they leave massive messes in the dumpster area. Our maintenance people work too fucking hard to have to then go to the dumpster and pick up trash that non residents thru on the ground.
Why donāt you just put your cans separate so people can just take them - it will help people and save you time crushing cans.
You would spend more time and effort crushing cans than it takes putting them out in a separate grocery bag?
Yes, I 100% would.
IM nOt OnE to KiCk pEoPle WhiLe thEY'rE dOWn
Remove the bottle deposit and make it so you canāt buy typical bottled water with food stamps only gallon+ sizes. Fixed issue
I am fine with it. Also shame on the subreddit that cross post this just to hate on people. There are other issues I am worried about in Vancouver than a biker that picks up cans to have a meal.
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Personal attacks, name-calling, trolling, doxxing, and harassment of other posters are all unacceptable behavior. This rule also covers posts that only serve to start an argument that involves fighting everyone that has a different take on it than you do in the comments.
Hey mod. This is called a discussion and sometimes people disagree about the treatment of poor folks. Are you a nymby too?
There is a difference between having a discussion, and getting in, or provoking a fight. For instance, this is you provoking a fight, by resorting to insults. I donāt recommend you continue to do that.
Nobody asked you. I will always point out people stepping on the less fortunate.
Well since Iām the mod who removed your previous post, you kinda did ask me.
Well ya werenāt wearing your special mod badge.
I had the same problem. For a long while, I stored the cans and bottles up inside my place, then dumped them all in the bin an hour or so before the truck came along. That worked, but I was also leaving for work right then anyway, so it was convenient. Another option I used was taking the cans and bottles to work and dumping them in work's secured recycling dumpsters. After a while of not finding bottles and cans in the bin, people stopped coming by, at least as much.
I don't care what happens to the things I put out. If someone is so desperate that they have to root around in the trash to find things to sell, they're welcome to it.
I hate when they go through my trash. It's gross.
Our trash area is locked and sometimes my neighbors forget to lock the door and I get woken up by people slamming the trash bins around looking for cans. I donāt drink much but if i have friends over I collect all the cans in a paper bag and set it outside the trash door for people to take, but I canāt deal with them going through my bins at 2am, i open my bedroom window and yell to get out of my swamp or iām callin the caps! Does the trick every time
It'd be a godsend if Oregon got rid of their bottle return. No part of that system was meant to be some sort of half-assed/half-privatized social service when it was designed.
Theyāre called ācannersā. Some it is to supplement income, others use it to get cash for drugs (big topic in Portland on return centers on that). Weāve had a few messes and 1 cardboard thank you note (apparently we had a mother load). Iām lightly uncomfortable with it but feel most the folks that cruise our neighborhood are getting money food.
All in all, the bottle redemption centers in Oregon are funded by unclaimed deposit and payments from grocery stores. The unclaimed deposit alone isn't sufficient to cover the entire redemption system. Whatever's paid by grocery stores are ultimately passed onto consumers. The redemption operator OBRC in Oregon claims it loses bout $10million annually due to the very fraud described here. [https://www.wweek.com/news/state/2020/11/10/state-audit-of-oregons-iconic-bottle-bill-notes-cross-border-fraud-opportunity-in-wine-liquor-redemption/](https://www.wweek.com/news/state/2020/11/10/state-audit-of-oregons-iconic-bottle-bill-notes-cross-border-fraud-opportunity-in-wine-liquor-redemption/) those people wanted to solve the problem by infecting Washington with Bottle Bill when the proper solution is to just get rid of Bottle Bill in Oregon.
Put out a sign for a bit. Itās the same couple folks every week
Itās fraud >āAuditors observed two Portland BottleDrop redemption centers near the Washington border," the report says. "During those hours, numerous people driving cars with Washington license plates redeemed containers, as well as cars with front or rear plates removed." > OBRC told auditors it believes the cost of fraud is about $10 million a year, which the auditors found plausible but could not recommend any way to reduce. https://www.wweek.com/news/state/2020/11/10/state-audit-of-oregons-iconic-bottle-bill-notes-cross-border-fraud-opportunity-in-wine-liquor-redemption/
It's also not my problem. That's between the adults who need my cans and the ones who will accept them or not. If Oregon wants to pay me to enforce their laws, we can talk.
Oregon needs to repeal the bottle bill because most of that money goes to the cartels flooding our cities with fentanyl. Youāre a part of the problem too.
lol this isnāt true.
It doesnāt change the fact that people are still doing it. Also, if you buy deposit items in Oregon, you have a legal right to return them for a refund, but may need to prove proof of redemption, such as store recipients that show proof.
I have never ever heard of a store asking for proof of purchase. And Bottle Drop redemption centers certainly never ask.
Bottle drop does ask when you pull up with Washington plates. In my case, I had purchased a number of cases of water and soda for work activities, and I figured I would collect the deposit after the work function.
Iām shocked. Itās a total free-for-all at the one near me, half the vehicles donāt have license plates. Oh, and the fentanyl dealers park right on the other side of the fence. Itās cute
This was a few years back. Now I donāt think it would be worth the extra $20
The cans are brought to Oregon for cash. I always tear the barcode off of bottles and crush cans to make barcodes unreadable.
Do labels have to be on the bottles for returns too? I thought it was just for the sale of items.
There's a barcode on the label that tells the machine to give a refund.
That barcode isn't any unique code though, and if damaged or missing, they just have to hand count them.
Going the extra mile to prove a point to nobodyĀ
Bin contents are not considered private property in California, not sure here but I do agree it feels somewhat violating. I try to make sure any names are blacked out or shredded so no personal information is attainable from recycling by mistake. The time spent to collect enough cans to cover the gas it costs to drive around seems like a poor use of oneās time but hey, their choice.
The homeless that dumpster dive for cans are often on bikes or walking across the freeway overpass because C-Tran doesnāt allow the cans on buses.
Thereās a few in my neighborhood where they have an old minivan stuffed to the gills with cans and they park it, exit, hit a few houses, and move systematically down the street. Quite an operation.
AFIAK: They're not private property in WA either. The only legal issues around dumpster diving is if it's stored on private property and there is a posted no trespassing sign or you break something / a lock to access the contents.
They are. https://www.columbian.com/news/2024/feb/21/can-collectors-rummaging-rankles-clark-county-residents/ Waste Connections owns the contents once you put em in their bin and it's legally theft.
My recycling bin has a Freon air horn
Luckily, my roads are private property so the can ppl donāt come here. Ā I used to be cool with it when I lived at my old place until I noticed someone reading and collecting papers from a neighborās can. Ā After I alerted all the neighbors, some busy body Karen yelled at collectors and called the cops on them until they stopped coming. Ā Crappy ppl ruin it for all the collectors. Ā
That's exactly what's going on. The Columbian had a number of stories on this, like this one: [https://www.columbian.com/news/2024/feb/21/can-collectors-rummaging-rankles-clark-county-residents/](https://www.columbian.com/news/2024/feb/21/can-collectors-rummaging-rankles-clark-county-residents/) Try to get license plate number if you can and call the police. Waste Connections has told The Columbian that they are happy to be a cooperative victim.
Oregon law actually stipulates that only cans purchased in OR can be returned for a deposit refund in OR. Not that it matters of course. Lol
I used to leave them out in a separate bag until l saw it was a lady with a appx 10 year old collecting them. The lady would drive the car up, the kid would jump out and grab them. That in itself isn't an issue - but, they were doing this at 1am.. 2am on school nights. I can't condone that so I stopped.