Waste Collectors Share 27 Trashy Things That People Do To Unintentionally Upset Them

FINALLY A THREAD I CAN RESPOND TO.

1. People will get those huge 55 gallon (or however big they are) toter cans and fill them to the brim with loose trash. Some trucks have cart tippers but most don't and it is always a mess and always too heavy.

2. Buy a trash can. When we get in a rhythm, it really sucks to have to spend 30 seconds or even a minute cleaning up all the trash that the raccoons and feral cats shredded up over night because you don't feel like buying a 10 dollar trash can.

3. People will wait till trash morning to scoop up all their dogs poop and dump it right on top of the trash in the can. Not in a bag....not in the woods....right on top of the bags in the can. There's nothing worse than taking a lid off and finding a man sized pile of dog c**p waiting for you.

4. Ifyou have a can, put the lid on. I can't lift your can if its full of trash AND rain water.

5. Put it on the curb. Don't put it on your front steps or in your yard. This goes back to the rhythm thing.

6. I'd rather you put out 5 kitchen sized bags than one contractor bag with 5 kitchen bags in it. This is my career and if I blow out my back I can't feed my family.

7. If you're gonna put out a bag full of broken glass, leave me a note so I don't cut my leg off.

8. Put your used needles (insulin, heroin, ect) into a coffee or Pringles can. If we get stuck with a dirty needle we're in for a bad day.

AND FINALLY, EVERYONE!!!! If you see a trash truck, please slow down. Please watch. Just last week a coworker got hit by a car. We all wanna get where we're going in the morning but it's not worth taking someone out as opposed to waiting for the loader or driver to wave you around.

That was oddly cathartic. I'm sure I could keep going but I can't think of any right now. Feel free to ask me any questions.

I'm a litter picker. People who rip documents into small pieces before throwing them on the ground.

Why? Why the f**k do you do that? You really think you're so special that your bank statement has any value to anyone? Or your bill from a f****n car hire place? Or whatever? No-one gives a f**k, criminals aren't watching you waiting for you to drop a document with your f****n name on it!

And then you don't even put it in a bin, you throw it on the ground! In f****n small pieces!

Someday I'm going to catch you doing this and I'm going to lose my job because I'll shove my litter picking stick so far up your a**e I'll be able to operate the lever and make your useless flapping mouth move.

Wankers.

I hate these people. And everyone else who drops litter.

This job really makes you hate people.

During the summers of 1996/97, I worked in a material recovery facility, or "MRF" (A trash receiving/processing facility inside a building.) to help pay my way through University training.

I was on the "Picking Line" most of the time. We sorted recyclables from trash *by hand.* That means opening up the bags you throw away, and sifting through all of it to find glass bottles, aluminum cans, clean paper, cardboard, various types of plastic bottles/etc., and heavy metals.

1. *Please dispose of chemicals and hazardous wastes in a responsible manner.* My eyesight was 20/15 in both eyes when I was younger. One fateful day, someone had disposed of a product called "Therm-Tec" in a loose bag. My co-worker ripped the bag open, and this stuff went everywhere - it was like someone had set off a smoke bomb. This stuff is horrible - tiny particles get in your eyes, nose, throat, lungs, and they burn. My eyes became infected within an hour, and despite attempts to clean my eyes with boric acid solution, the damage had been done. By the time I got to the eye surgeon two hours later, my vision had been permanently damaged. I am now 20/80 in my right eye, and 20/100 in my left. I am not the only one. All my co-workers on that shift had to see an eye doctor. All of us suffered permanent vision loss. The effect on my eyes was not as severe as some of the others.
***If you have any hazardous wastes, especially particulate matter which creates a fine dust, or anything which generates strong fumes... please read up on how to responsibly dispose of it, and then take appropriate action.

2. Three of my co-workers were jabbed by hypodermic needles while on the picking line, *in less than 15 seconds.* Someone had disposed of their needles in a loose pile, and had not bothered to cap them. Just threw them in a bag and tossed them in the trash. Luckily, none of them caught HIV or any other serious illness - but it was still a pretty horrific experience.
*For the love of god*, *please dispose of needles properly*. Use a coffee can, put the lid on, and label it, "NEEDLES" or something. Our job was bad enough without the threat of contracting HIV, Hepatitis, or some other awful disease - on top of the atrocious smells, the oppressive heat of the building in summer (typically 105-110F), the heavy lifting of large objects into 8-foot tall bins, the danger of heavy equipment, and pumping out the pit beneath the garbage baler every Sunday.

We wore coveralls, dust masks (they didn't help against Therm-Tec), kevlar arm-bands, safety glasses, safety vests, heavy gloves, steel-toed boots, hard-hats, and normal clothes underneath.

I quit after that second summer, when the needles and Therm-Tec incidents occurred. I was earning $5.25/hr, working 35 hours per week like everyone else, so they didn't have to pay us health benefits. I couldn't afford health insurance with all my other bills, so I had to pay my Optical Surgeon out of pocket. We never discovered the source of that Therm-Tec, as it arrived inside a normal garbage bag which had been collected from a residential area. The company which manufactured Therm-Tec was not responsible for the improper dumping, and so we were all just stuck with our vision loss and medical bills.

People who work in sanitation work *hard*. They work in dangerous conditions. Their pay is most often atrocious, relative to the amount of work they do, and the wear and tear on their bodies. I took permanent damage while only working two summers, following all safety procedures, and wearing industry-standard safety equipment.

Treat your sanitation workers like human beings. Don't dispose of things in a way which is going to make their job even worse. Please.

"custodian" (janitor) as a temp for 7mo at a college, in a newly opened building. Seriously the amount of c***s that would drop their s**t on the floor within feet to a few inches of the trashcans was insane.

We'd periodically try adding more general disposal bins to more populated areas. Know what happened? You just ended up with more s**t strewn about the floor rather than in the one or two corners.

By the end of my time there most of us were throwing everything out the students left in the common areas regardless of whether it was trash or not. You leave your usb drive or mariokart within 10ft of the half-empty can with your popcorn bags and dew bottles strewn around? Bye Felicia.

Just put your trash in the f*****g trash.

My dad is a trashman, and i used to go in the truck with him on his shifts. The thing that used to annoy me, just watching, was the people that threw huge trash bags on the floor instead of the dumpster. He had to get out of his truck, throw in so many trash bags, then go in the truck to lift up the dumpster and throw everything away. Seriously people, throwing your stuff away in the right place isn't that hard. At least try to make it easier for people like my dad.

Tie your trash bags, please.
And empty your cup before tossing, you put in soda or juice but somehow it smells [bad] 20 min later

Yard Waste!!! People fill up their huge yard waste cans with dirt, sod, grass, leaves then they top the whole thing off by jamming sticks in there. All
they've done is create a wooden, makeshift net to trap everything in the can!!

So then, Im swearing and bang the can on the side of truck to try and break the wooden net! AND THEN a resident calls and complains cuz their garbage man was cursing in the street while staring into a bunch of C**P! AND THEN MY BOSS CALLS ME THE NEXT DAY CUZ THE F*****G CAN IS BROKEN AND THE WHEELS FELL OFF CUZ I WAS BANGING IT ON THE TRUCK TRYING TO GET THE WOODEN NET TO BREAK SO I COULD MOVE ON WITH MY S**T FILLED DAY!!

So please, place your sticks next to your cans and bags OR break them into smaller pieces. Good day.

Not a garbage man, but I'm an IT consultant for several garbage haulers. One day I was at their office swapping out some equipment and notice this real winner pull up to the recycle area. The guy put some broken down boxes in the cardboard recycling dumpster but then decided he wanted to get rid of a box filled with styrofoam peanuts as well. He proceeds to attempt to pour the peanuts into the slot for broken down boxes and since it was a windy day they of course blew everywhere except for in the dumpster. Then the guy leaves hundreds of peanuts all over the lot and drives off. One of the most selfish acts I've seen in recent years.

My father was a garbage man/driver back in the 90's. He said a worker of his was pricked by a hypodermic needle. Turned out to be okay, but yeah, don't don't that.

The biggest complaint from downtown recycling pick-up crews is that people place bags of used cat litter in with items to be recycled for use in products for human consumption.

I'm not a sanitation worker and I'm late to the party but if even one person sees this and keeps it in mind, I've done a good thing.

I've worked at several gas stations and although I have a bit more upper body strength than an average woman my height, trying to lift the trash bags from the cans next to the pumps is a f*****g NIGHTMARE. They're heavy as s**t, and people dump ashtrays, uncapped needles, you name it. S**t, one time I got a half gallon of outdoor paint dumped down the front of me an hour into my shift as I was struggling to pull an 80lb bag out of the can. Also please, please don't keep piling s**t on top if the trashcan is full. This applies to anywhere.

I'm a dispatcher for a garbage company and my drivers get soooo pissed when the customer puts the wrong materials in each container...trash in the yard waste, concrete in the trash....I had a driver call in one time that a customer had poured liquid paint into their recycling toter and it had solidified. It takes like two seconds to look at each container and make sure you're putting it in the right one, they're even different colors in case you don't feel like reading the stickers! And if you aren't sure whether something can be disposed curbside just call us...we can tell you how to get rid of it or schedule a special pick up for some items

Garbage man for 10years now and have to say the most d**k move is not bagging your trash. Throwing papers, vacuum dust, dog hair etc into your cart or can is just pure stupidity. People also like to overfill their dumpsters, i.e. containers on construction sites. Next time you see a dumpster filled 12' over the top, just think about the guy who has to climb up and throw all the s**t off that the dumb f***s just piled to the sky. Seriously, you pour a drink and stop when it gets full...you don't keep pouring and letting it all overflow....renobs.

Worked as a garbage man for a summer in high school. Things that pissed me and the full timers off.
**Crop dusters** - don't have a single full sized garbage bag in their can. It is all small bags you would get at a grocery store. Hundreds of these f*****g things packed in there.

**Going Commandos** - people who don't use garbage bags. Yeah they exist. These f*****g savages just throw their s**t all loose in the can.

**"S**t it's garbage day"** - The people who don't put their cans out and then call and b***h that we didn't pick up their can even though they put it out. They think they are pulling a fast one even though since literally every other house on the block except theirs had their garbage picked it up the boss knows they are full of s**t.

**"There is always next week"** - I get it you live alone, don't produce much garbage so why should you have to drag that half full can out to the curb every week? Probably because someone else has to pick that s**t up and smell the two week old garbage when you don't.

**Check the crawlspace** - packs a 3ft tall garbage can full of dirt and wonders why it wasn't picked up.

**Wet paper baggers** - You know what is great? Those big paper bags that home depot sells for yard work. You know what isn't great? Filling those bags with dirt and rocks and leaving it on the grass so the morning dew soaks in there, turns it into mush and it falls apart at the slightest touch.

**Lumberjacks** - Finally trimmed that tree in your yard huh? Looks nice but what are you going to do with all of the branches? Break em up into manageable pieces? No, just stuff em in the plastic can so they're nice and wedged in there. Make sure to complain that your can is f****d up after they had to beat the s**t out of it to get all the branches out.

**The life aquatic** - As far as i know garbage cans come with lids. So why is it people don't use them especially when it is raining? Nothing says you're an a*****e like a can filled to the brim with water.

**Hanging on by a thread** - if your can has more holes then your underwear then maybe it is time for a new one.

**"What do you mean it is too big"** - Kids outgrew that basketball net huh? It's rusty and beat to s**t, should probably throw it out. Don't drain the base or take it apart though just put the whole 10ft tall hoop out there I'm sure they'll take it no problem.

Bonus - when i started working there one of the full timers told me about how a woman ran up to them as they were dumping cans and pulled a tampon out of her vaj and threw it in the back. Some people are animals.

While I usually work on the mechanical broom, I have been out collecting garbage here and there in New York City. That said, here are a couple things:

1) Bag your trash. Opening a can to find it filled to the brim with loose cans and bottles is not only irritating, but, really slows down the process if the garbage can itself is damaged and half the c**p spills out on the street before even making it to the hopper.

2) Don't mix commodities. Theres a reason that paper and plastic/metal are supposed to have separate cans, and, truthfully, collectors aren't supposed to take mixed trash.

3) Honking and yelling isn't going to make us go any faster, despite what you might think. Trust me, it's not as if we want to hold up traffic on busy mornings, but, that's just the nature of the beast. You want clean streets, no problem, just let us do our jobs.

4) SLOW DOWN. And, honestly? Don't try and pass the truck while a San Worker is working. Injuries and accidents from people NEEDING to squeeze their way around the truck or flying past at the first opportunity ate too numerous to list. We want to get home to our families the way we left them, allow us that luxury.

And, some points for the Broom:

1) It's not a vacuum. It runs on a shaft and elevator system and can get gummed up by large amounts of leaves, string, large pieces of wood/debris. Especially this time of year, the leaves make things very difficult to clean completely. If you have a lot of leaves in front of your house, please bag them up instead of making huge mounds.

2) Alternate side parking does NOT make double parking legal. Trying to squeeze that sucker down some narrow blocks is hard enough without having to navigate double and sometimes triple parked vehicles.

3) If you're sitting in your car on the aforementioned alternate side parking areas, MOVE. Don't wait until I'm trying to go around you to look at me and ask if you should move. Also, you can hear me coming a mile away, between the brushes on the street and the honking. Don't wait until I'm right up on you to decide to start moving. Our segments are timed, and waiting for you to make your move messes up that flow.

4) Keep your dogs on a leash. Some dogs want to charge the brushes, and these things will tear them to shreds. Leashes. I don't want to be the guy who's broom tore up a pomeranian.

Those are just some major things I can think of off the top of my head.

Talking for my boyfriend here, this is what he finds annoying.

This happened two weeks ago.

"We came up to a stop that had a toter and two cans. The last can was crammed with at least two entire thorn bushes. I spent about a minute shaking the can. When i tried to reach in to pull it out i was stabbed twice, so i decided f**k it, theyre no supposed to have plant material in their cans any ways (township has special facilities for plant matter) so i left it.

Well mr. Jackass calls in and bitches to my boss about it. So we had to go back the next day to get it. So naturally i spent five minutes smashing the can inside the hopper. Until the can is no longer recognizable and all the plant material is out of the can. Left the mangled can on their yard. Haven't heard from him since ."

Not a garbage collector, just someone who watches it every Tuesday. Lave some space between your bins! And don't stick them right in front of your car where the truck can't pull up. Collectors here use kinda of a claw to grab the bin and empty it but often people don't leave space between bins (if recycling and regular rubbish are put out) and as a result one of the bins will end up falling and spilling. Just don't create extra work for your council member or neighbour. It's annoying and I don't like finding your rubbish in my yard because you were too lazy to fix your bins up

I worked as a garbage collector when I was in high school. The number one annoyance was fish that had been left out to rot in the summer heat. I guess what I'm tryin to say is if you have to dispose of fish and other marine animals, put then in several layers of bags or whatever, especially in the summer months.

My dad was a garbage man and a dog catcher for our small town when I was really young.. he said people putting Bleach on top of the bags in their trash cans to stop opossums and other wildlife from getting in them was the worst.

So not a garbage man but I have a confession... I have worked plenty of jobs that require changing trash cans regularly so I understand the struggle and am asking all sanitation workers to forgive me and my family.

Anyways.... My family doesn't drink a whole lot of milk but we usually have at least a small carton so we don't waste it or let it go bad. Well one day my mom forgot she already picked up a carton and brought a second home. Fast forward a few days and the old carton had been pushed to the back of the fridge. Someone eventually found it and noticed it had started going bad and set it on the counter to be emptied and thrown away. Well the last part never happened. Instead my dad saw that the trash was coming and he wanted to get one last bag out. He throws the still full carton into a hastily tied bag and ran to the street. The collectors roll up a minute later and start to dump our trash. My dad and I are chatting as we casually watch them take the trash. The guy who loaded our can then proceeds to compact it (standing st the back pulling a lever. Well the milk carton happened to be somehow exposed out of the bag and when the compactor hit it, it went off like a cannon. A smelly rotten milk filled cannon. Of course it hit this poor guy right in the face. He stands back shocked for a moment and then turns towards our house and just stares. Doesn't flinch just staring, and presumably plotting how he will burn our house down with us in it. My dad and I jump back from the windows.

Wherever you are, I am sorry. Please forgive us.

Edit: TLDR: a catrton of old milk in my trash can exploded all over a sanitation worker