Council bin-shames resident in cold slab twist
Redland City Council has publicly bin-shamed a local for stuffing solid slabs of concrete into their green waste bin – sparking online fury, a flood of puns, and a warning that could cost residents up to $18,000 in worst case scenarios.
'There aren't enough puns in the world to say what's not quite right with this picture, but let's give it a go,' a council spokesman said.
Aussies have long cherished the Christmas custom of leaving a cold slab for the garbage crew, but the council felt the resident who left slabs of concrete 'really cemented their place on the naughty list'.
It peppered him with bin-shame and puns for punishment. 'We have concrete evidence that someone has put the wrong thing in their green waste bin,' RCC posted.
'We're guessing they may have taken compostable too literally but it's rock solid that someone's green waste bin habits need to be reinforced.'
Fines across the Greater Brisbane region vary widely for unlawful disposal of residential or commercial waste, with Redland alone ranging from $220 to $18,150, depending on the seriousness of the offence. In Brisbane City Council's zone, the fine is $575 for putting prohibited items in bins, which incidentally is also the fine for not taking your bins in fast enough after the truck has left.
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The post sparked over 500 reactions as residents weighed in with a mix of outrage, disbelief, and dad jokes.
'I remember the good old day's when we used to leave a slab out for the garbo at Xmas time,' said one person.
'It just proves how many dumb people exist in this world' said another, while more got in on the puns: 'I think you need to reinforce the rules'.
A former sanitation worker said it was not as uncommon as you might expect, with one resident disposing of his entire granny flat demolition waste over the space of a few months. 'An old fella demolished his brick granny flat and put it in the new wheelie bin over a few months. We were told to let him go because they wanted to test the durability of the bins.'
Some residents had a few tips for anyone wishing to do the same in future: 'If you put a couple of bricks in each collection, the council will never know.'
There was one circumstance where there was concrete support for the move: 'Half filled a wheelie bin up with broken bricks/concrete pieces/bit of timber etc once when we had a couple of short circuits driving around throwing the passenger door open and knocking the bins over. Never happened again'.
Green bins in the region are collected on a tight fortnightly schedule and there's even council-made videos explaining what goes where.
A council statement said 'we're hoping they're not too set in their ways', offering 'constructive feedback' for residents.
'Heavy material like cement damages the collection vehicles and your bin too,' it said. 'It disrupts services and contaminates green waste. Your green-lid bin is only for garden organics like grass clippings, leaves, prunings, small branches, shrub and hedge trimmings, sticks, bark and weeds.'
According to Smart Rubbish Removal, there are set rules in place that should ensure residents garbage disposal runs smoothly, with regular rubbish bins picked up weekly, recycling bins every two weeks and garden waste bins picked up every two weeks from March to November in Brisbane.
'Place bins on kerb by 6 AM on scheduled pick-up days so trucks can service the whole area on time. Missing this window can lead to missed collection and potential littering fines.'
What's allowed in kerbside bins?
Garbage Bin
Food scraps
Tissues
Broken plates
Diapers
NO chemical
NO car batteries
Recycling Bin
Milk cartons
Clean paper
Glass jars
Steel cans
NO plastic bags
NO foam cups
Garden Waste Bin
Grass clippings
Tree branches
Leaves
Twigs
NO plastic plant pots
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