While most people would agree that keeping the streets clean is important, there seem to be certain disagreements about the use of trash cans, specifically personal ones. Obviously, bringing your huge waste bags and clogging the personal trash can someone is paying for is off-limits. But what about a small piece of waste, namely bagged dog waste, when there are no public containers around? This sort of question was raised by this Redditor who asked online whether she was a jerk to throw dog waste in her neighbor’s trash can, making her boyfriend take over walking his dog due to them being unable to come to an agreement on the topic.

More info: Reddit

The woman’s enjoyment of walking her boyfriend’s dog came to an end after the couple’s disagreement over waste disposal

Image credits: Andriyko Podilnyk (not the actual photo)

The woman moved in with her boyfriend and his dog a month ago and started walking his dog in the mornings

Image credits: GarbagePoo23

Everything was going well until the woman’s boyfriend didn’t have to work one morning and came along

Image credits: Matthew LeJune (not the actual photo)

The woman was about to throw away the dog waste in someone else’s can when her boyfriend stopped her

A woman recently posted to a Reddit community online after she and her boyfriend could not agree about whether it is okay to use a neighbor’s trash can to get rid of dog waste.

The woman shared that she had just moved in with her boyfriend and his dog a month ago and was enjoying walking the man’s dog in the mornings, while he did evenings.

However, the situation changed when one morning, the man didn’t have to work and joined his girlfriend in walking the dog.

As sometimes during their walk, the dog would poo and the woman would put it in a doggy bag and then throw it into a garbage can before continuing, so it happened this time. However, as the girlfriend was about to put the bag with dog waste into the garbage bin, her boyfriend stopped her, saying she could not use other people’s trash can.

Despite the woman arguing that the trash cans were meant for trash and she wouldn’t hold on to dog poop for the entire walk when there was a perfectly good garbage can, the man called her rude, ended up carrying the trash, and took it upon himself to walk his dog going forward.

The woman argued she wasn’t going to hold on to dog poop the entire walk when there was a perfectly good garbage can

Image credits: Harry Grout (not the actual photo)

The boyfriend ended up carrying the trash and took it upon himself to walk his dog going forward

This sort of problem was discussed in various articles online, for example, Wirecutter were addressing a concern raised by readers in their article How Do I Stop People From Throwing Poop Bags in My Garbage Can.

The writer of this article shared she is a dog owner herself, and knowing her dog’s general routine helps her figure out their route so she is able to toss the bag into a town trash can, while during times when they take a different route or when it takes her by surprise, she simply carries the bag along until she gets home or reaches a public disposal option.

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However, the woman noticed a different opinion by some people online, who thought it is ridiculous for homeowners to get annoyed at people throwing bags with dog waste in their trash cans. For example, Mike Gutman was advocating for this opinion, saying “I would much rather live in a world where people who see trash on the ground pick it up and the nearest receptacle would be an OK place to throw that trash away.”

Gutman explained for Coloradoan that “if he has an option to go to a public garbage can that’s close by, he’ll choose that,” yet “you might call him a bad person, but he thinks it’s within the realm of being a reasonable human and neighbor to think that’s OK.”

The writer for Wirecutter reached out to sanitation departments across the country and received an answer that in New York, at least, it is illegal to dispose of one’s trash in someone else’s bin without permission and people are advised to use the public or their home trash for dog waste.

Wirecutter also listed various tips for trash can owners who face such a problem and these included giving pet owners the benefit of the doubt and assuming they do not know such behavior might be unwelcome by a homeowner by taping a simple sign to the can’s lid that says something along the lines of “This is not a public trash can”.

Gutman, on the other hand, was campaigning for stickers that denote a person’s willingness to harbor dog waste in their bin.

Finally, on a more funny note, Wirecutter suggested scaring the bejesus out of potential users of one’s waste can by keeping Halloween decorations all year long.

Coming back to the woman’s story, Redditors voted the woman and not her boyfriend to be a jerk in this situation. What’s your take on it? Share your thoughts in the comment section.

The majority of Redditors judged the woman to be a jerk in this situation

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Image credits: Matt Seymour (not the actual photo)

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