When People Go Through Your Trash

[WDCA]

I live in a small apartment building. There's only a handful of units. Our trash dumpster is in a back alley and there's always homeless or others searching through it for bottles. Recently they've started tearing the bags open so I keep finding my very adult sized diapers strewn about the dumpster whenever I throw something away. I can only imagine what my neighbors are wondering. There's only so many of us and I'm not particularly interested in my neighbors knowing about my diapers. I wish there were something more I could do to be discreet.

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

It will be the elephant in the room, if anyone even cares. Nobody will want to talk about it for fear of the "He who smelt it, dealt it" principle or they will figure it is the "old man" or that an astronaut moved in (just sing the old 1970's song I'M NOT LISA)

[pampers212]

Next time you take out a bag of dirty diapers, place one on the very top that is thoroughly soiled and very loosely wrapped up, so that it is prone to make a mess when anyone tries going through the bag. The pesrosn who goes through your trash might think twice next time they see the same bag of diapers.

[sarah_ab]

i just curious how often do you investigate the contents of a dumpster? I worked as a janitor for two years and tried my damnedest to avoid looking into the dumpster when throwing trash in it..... i mean don't most people just toss the bag and walk away......?

[mikejackson999]

when I lived in an apartment, I used to toss my used diapers in a bag with the rest of the trash and toss it in and walk away. A few times I had seen a diaper outside the dumpster and no one really cared.

[TheKid]

Put kitty litter in your trash...it deters people from digging into it.

[rusty pins]

i just curious how often do you investigate the contents of a dumpster? I worked as a janitor for two years and tried my damnedest to avoid looking into the dumpster when throwing trash in it..... i mean don't most people just toss the bag and walk away......?

I think he's referring to homeless people or out of work people looking in trash for bottles and cans to redeem for cash, or any other item they think they might be able to sell or use. I say, if they root through your dirty diapers, it serves them right, however your point of the rest of the people in the apartment building seeing your diapers strewn all over the dumpster could lead to them wondering who wears the diapers in the apartment. Maybe it's not a big deal, maybe they would be curious and not care, but maybe it could turn into something embaressing. Especially if a neighbor noticed you carrying in a package of diapers to your apartment one day. They may mention to you to try and package your used ones better so they don't get strewn about in the dumpster. Then it could lead to that person mentioning it to others in the apartment, etc, etc.

It's too bad that we can't get access to hospital medical waste bags they use for disposing of medical waste. I saw on Mythbusters the other night that those bags were tossed in a huge dumpster that went to the disposale site. Perhaps if a trash bag said, "CAUTION! MEDICAL WASTE" on it, some people would hesitate to go through it. On the other hand, people who root through dumpsters and garbage probably can't read anyway! It might also cause the people in your apartment building to wonder who is throwing away medical waste in their dumpster. Only other thing I could suggest is to put a lock on the dumpster and have everyone in the partment have their own key. That would keep people out but then how would the dumpster get emptied when it's hauled away?

[Little BabyDoll Christine]

The idiots who strew things around pretty much do not care about what the things are in. They just toss them around willy-nilly

[BriGuy]

i just curious how often do you investigate the contents of a dumpster? I worked as a janitor for two years and tried my damnedest to avoid looking into the dumpster when throwing trash in it..... i mean don't most people just toss the bag and walk away......?

Yup. Not going to be outed from a dumpster.

[toddmdl]

I don't think you have much to worry about. Those who care do not know. Those who know do not care.

[sarah_ab]

any custodian supply store will sell boxes of the red biohazard trashbags .... then use those for ur diapers

[dl_ashlee]

I would do an enema and make sure that the bag is covered with it. Do it several times and hopefully they get the idea the they sbould not open certain bags.

[Guest]

I actually had this happen to me before hen i lived at my grandparents house. I used thick black plastic bags and someone was taking the bags full of wet/poopy diapers, dumping them out and stealing the bag. and they just left the diapers all over the place. I know my grandmother saw them but she never said anything... That was in the days before specialty AB diapers though. I can just imagine someone now doing a double take on a rolled up cushies...

[Pm88]

I also live in an apartment complex but there are enough people that nobody would suspect me. In your case I would probably learn the schedule for the trash pickup. Then in the morning drop off your trash just before they pick it up so that there is no time for people to search through your trash.

[BriGuy]

Does anyone have any EMPATHY for the poor soul who has to dig through trash for the cans or other recyclables? Sheesh the biggest issue you have is being outed about YOUR DIAPERS? Talking about being short sighted....

[Guest]

Does anyone have any EMPATHY for the poor soul who has to dig through trash for the cans or other recyclables? Sheesh the biggest issue you have is being outed about YOUR DIAPERS? Talking about being short sighted....

I think that is a little out of line. He never said this was his biggest worry. And just because someone else may have more serious problems with their survival does not make this any less real for the OP.

[BriGuy]

It was more pointed towards the other comments on keeping people out, like enemas, cat litter, etc. who cares? No one is going to be able to pin point the diaper wearer through the dirty diapers found in a dumpster.

I think it's much more sad that someone has to dig through the trash can. Instead of empathy, it's people saying how horrible it is that someone is going through your trash that kinda irks me.

[SoCalAB]

In Long Beach, Ca if the "recycling engineers" are looking from sympathy they will find it between shit and syphilis in the dictionary. We have lots of people digging through our trash in Long Beach and the city has purple recycling bins now for cans and paper. If someone is caught going through the trash to get cans or recyclable items in this town they are subject to a $200 fine.

This was after citizens got tired of picking up after them and complained to the city council.

Does anyone have any EMPATHY for the poor soul who has to dig through trash for the cans or other recyclables? Sheesh the biggest issue you have is being outed about YOUR DIAPERS? Talking about being short sighted....

[tcc]

In my humble opininon, if you want to dump disposable diapers into the trash, do it and forget about it. Unless your name is on the diaper(s), how would anybody know they are YOUR used diapers.

Now, since REUSABLE diapers - cloth diapers, needing laundering and plastic pants to make them waterproof(as is possible) - don't go INTO the trash bin or dumpster, the problem is eliminated.

I see a couple of issues, both of which can be addressed fairly easily...

[aleyxsis]

I actually agree with Tcc how the hell are they going to know they are your diapers did ya leave your name on them ? .i usually take my name off just sayin

love ally

[Saschadzg]

Hi,

I live in an apartment building with elevator/lift, where many eldery and disabled live. I am not the only diaper wearer there. I moved there because of the elevator as I cannot climb high stairs anymore as being disabled myself, which I told my neighbors.

Kvetinka