Retire2016
Well-Known Member
This discussion reminds me of this film: [ame="http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HlFP-PMW6E"]http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HlFP-PMW6E[/ame]
I would completely blindside him with a separate issue that will take his mind off of the "OMG I wonder if he knows that I'm an alcoholic?" thing.
Example:
"Hey, do you mind if I collect some wine bottles from your recycle bin every once in a while? I use them to masturbate with."
"WHAT?!"
"I'm just kidding. I'm a homebrewer and I use them for bottling up beer."
"Oh. Well...okay then."
When garbage hits the curb, it's public property. Raid the whole neighborhood.
So this is how I decided to handle the situation. I didn't give up my identity or create a scenario where he must talk about his high level of consumption to anyone he knows, yet I still made a gesture of mutual benefit. I also may have created a scenario for which there is no legal precedent. If he enters into this agreement with me by means of written consent (or possibly by lack of written non-consent), to leave his bottles for me in his recycling bin, then who is to legally challenge me about collecting them?
I'm sure that anybody with a law or business degree could shoot this down, but my goal isn't really to be technically and legally right. It's to get bottles while being as ethical and polite about it as possible. I think I've accomplished that.
Just left the bottles on his porch with the note about 30min ago.
Well I have an idea why someone could be angry.
I pay some amount every month (roughly ~$70) for trash hauling and recycling for my building. However, without the bottles & cans in the recycling, that could cost me even more because some of the money the trash company earns is through recovered deposits on those bottles & cans. Here in CA, the redemption value on a 12oz bottle or can is 5 cents, and on larger bottles (e.g. a 750ml bottle) the value goes up to 10 cents. In other words, people taking bottles & cans from my recycling indirectly raises my trash bill every month.
Now if it's JUST my recycling bin being pored over every week, that probably doesn't do much to impact my bill. But suppose every week some enterprising individual decides to go down the street and collect every single bottle & can from every bin on the street. Suddenly, we're talking about a lot of money going into that individual's pocket, and coming out of my neighborhood's collective pockets. I mean, potentially hundreds of dollars every week. My neighborhood is essentially paying that guy's rent every month. Do I want to pay for some guy's rent that pulls crap out of my trash and makes a mess in my driveway every week? Probably not.
The recyclers are still getting screwed (according to some here...)
Turns out the old man knew who was taking his bottles all along. Since I made the gesture, he decided to give them to me instead of letting me fish them out of the bin. This morning I opened the front door to see my daughter off to the bus stop and by chance he was standing there on my porch holding a six-pack of wine bottles. He was in the middle of dropping them there ninja-style, and I caught him. We shook hands, said good morning, and I said thanks. Made some small talk, and he went on his way. So, crisis averted, and I now receive the bottles in an indisputably legal and consensual way.
I found, that once my neighbors knew I brewed they started saving me bottles. Especially after I shared my beers with them. In fact it was funny in the loft I used to live in, I'd come home from work and have a bunch of bottles (usually really cool ones like Grolsh Bottles or bombers) from out building super. He'd let himself in and leave them for me. It got so that I told him whenever he did that, to go ahead and take a couple of my beers out of the fridge for his trouble. I did tell him to only take from the front of the beer shelf, never the back or the sides, or any other part of the fridge, because they may not have been ready yet or something I was saving. But if it was at the front of the mid shelf to help himself.
He was never greedy, never took more than a couple, but would always leave me bottles of his.
A recycle bin for work may go to a place that PAYS the company for the metals (I can tell that they most assuredly do.)
A recyce bin for a homeowner is different in that they do not get paid for the materials being recycled. As far as I know, placing stuff next to the curb for pickup is an indication that they are being disposed of and that the owner is giving up ownership.
Posting about it now is nothing more than wanting to hear yourself talk.
Really. What more can be said?
Posting about it now is nothing more than wanting to hear yourself talk.
But, carry on.
Sure it can. If you want to beat a dead horse.
If you have a new argument on the moral/ethical or legal dimension of the issue, make it.
If you do, it will be the first new thought on it in about 50 posts
If you don't you are just posting to hear yourself talk.
Have at it.
Sure it can. If you want to beat a dead horse.
If you have a new argument on the moral/ethical or legal dimension of the issue, make it.
If you do, it will be the first new thought on it in about 50 posts
If you don't you are just posting to hear yourself talk.
Have at it.
I found, that once my neighbors knew I brewed they started saving me bottles.
You got me there, but never underestimate what people would do for money. Not everyone shreds important stuff like that. I know some of my co-workers that complain about all the credit card applications they get and how they just chuck it in their recycle bins. Who knows if someone else comes along and see that and tries to take advantage of that?
I would be very uncomfortable with someone going through my recycling bin. Besides bottles, there are torn up credit card applications, bills, etc. ID theft is a real concern. If I see someone sneaking around my trash, they are going to have a very uncomfortable time explaining themselves.
New Englanders are also notoriously private and get cantankerous when someone trespasses on their land without permission. People have been shot with rock salt for less. (ask how I know)
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