”Neighbors dump, throw & litter rubbish (cigarettes) outside my yard & house! What can I do to stop illegal dumping?” This may occur in our daily life sometimes. Are you now suffering from fly-tipping? Well, you will learn some effective solutions or ways to stop illegal dumping here. You can also get some detailed answers to fly-tipping frequently asked questions.
Table of Contents:
Top 6 Solutions to Stop Illegal Dumping
"Illegal Dumping" Hot Questions
Here is the noticeable information this article puts forward about how to stop illegal dumping:
| Illegal Dumping | Construction debris/old furniture |
| Effective Tools | Security cameras/systems |
| Effective Ways | Call the Police, etc. |
| Penalty | According to local law |
What Can We Do to Stop Illegal Dumping of Waste on Private Property
Still Google the best "stop illegal dumping on my property" brochure?
Now you've GOT one.
Follow the below useful ways to stop your neighbors dumping yard waste or rubbish on your property & yard.
- Way 1. Go Talk to Your Neighbors
- Way 2. Call the Police
- Way 3. Use Security Cameras
- Way 4. Put up "No Dumping & No Trespassing" Sign
- Way 5. Lock Your Area
- Way 6. Contact Environment Conservation Authorities
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Way 1. The First Step to Stop Neighbors' Illegal Dumping — Talking to the Person Directly
What can I do about illegal dumping in my alley?
If you notice people or your neighbors dumping trash and old furniture in front of your house, you should confront the person who dumped the litter or rubbish on your property directly.
You can be nice for the first time and tell your neighbors that please don't dump the rubbish in your trash can or in your yard, or you will call the police.
Way 2. Get the Police Involved to Help You Stop Illegal Dumping on Your Property
Well, in most cases, calling the police would be one of the most common ways you would use when you are in trouble. Undoubtedly, when you want to stop someone dumping litter on your property, report the illegal dumping of waste or garbage to the police immediately. The police will come to investigate the event and fine the person who did trash/waste dump.
Bump: You can also contact your local Health Department or call 311 for help.
Way 3. Use Security Cameras (Systems) to Stop Illegal Dumping on Your Yard, Trash Can & Property
If the police ask you for evidence of illegal dumping, security cameras would be a helpful tool.
You can buy a security camera on your porch or where the security camera can monitor your yard or where people dump rubbish. It's inevitable that sometimes your neighbors would not admit the fact that he or she has dumped garbage on your property. With the videos & images captured by your security cameras, the guy who dumped rubbish on your property can't deny what he/she did.
Besides, with the evidence, the police can catch the guy more quickly. And the police also can fine the person for litter trespassing crime with obvious evidence.
If you stick a sign that shows your property is under the monitoring of security cameras on your yard, most people would not dare to dump waste on your property. It's also helpful to deter any would-be thieves to break into your property.
Some advanced security cameras can even enable you to get remote live view even without WiFi connection and outlets. You can place such 4G security camera that runs over mobile data to monitor your trash can, and then you can get real-time app pushes when someone dumps litter on your property.
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You can check the below ”Garbage pickup” video captured by a security camera. With such a security camera, you can see who dumped the waste into your trash can, and stop the illegal dumping with the evidence recorded by a security camera.
Way 4. Put up Private Property "No Illegal Dumping" Signs to Prevent Illegal Dumping
"No Dumping Trash" signs are indeed helpful to stop illegal dumping to some degree. Some people would not do dumping garbage on your private property when they see the "No Dumping Trash" signs.
You can write "The area is under video surveillance" on your "Do NOT Dump Your Rubbish Here" notice, which can deter a great number of would-be dumpers.
If they still dump the litter when they notice the "Do NOT Dump Rubbish" sign, they are against illegal dumping laws. You have every reason to sue him/her for illegal dumping on your property.
Way 5. Lock Your Area to Prevent Anyone Dumping Rubbish on Your Property
Illegal garbage dumping on my lawn every week, how do I stop this?
Some douche bags would sneak into your yard to dump their litter. It's definitely a good way to lock your area to prevent those bad guys dumping rubbish on your property.
Locking your area is one of the best preventive measures against illegal dumping garbage.
However, different cities have different residential fence standards. Please make sure your fence's height is not against the standard. Check the residential fence standards here.
If you are not allowed to put up fences around your property, place your dumpsters in a well-lit area or places monitored by security cameras. With bright light and CCTV footage, you are more likely to identify the person that conducts illegal dumping on your property.
Way 6. Contact Local Environmental Divisions to Deal with Illegal Dumping
Another feasible solution to illegal dumping is to contact the environmental division of local government.
Aside from costing you extra money to clean up your yard, illegal dumping may also poison the soil and local waterway.
To deal with illegal dumping on your property, it is best to leave the dumping there and seek help from the local environment conservations apartment.
How can we/you stop illegal garbage dumping in Vancouver Island and other countries? Take the above effective solutions now to prevent this awful crime!
If you see illegal dumping, report to the police immediately. If you are suffering fly dumping, wait for no time to take the above solutions to stop illegal dumping of toxic or hazardous waste on your property.
You can also get more information about illegal dumping on the below FAQs.
”Illegal Dumping” Frequently Asked Questions (Share Your Ideas Here)
We make an ”Illegal Dumping” FAQs list here so that you can get deep insights on fly tipping. If you have any ideas or questions, please leave them in the comment.
Q 1. What Is the Definition of Illegal Dumping?
What is dumping and why is it illegal? Is it illegal to use someone else's dumpster?
A 1: Illegal dumping is the illegal deposit of any waste or litter in unauthorized areas. It is illegal to sue others’ dumpsters without their permission. It's considered as the theft of services.
The harms of illegal dumping include but are not limited to:
• Bringing health risks to people, pets, animals and landscape
• Poisoning the soil, local waterway and environment
• Costing extra money to clean up the wastes
• Providing breeding grounds for pests and rats
Hold Up: There are differences between littering and illegal dumping and the standard are the type and volume of the wastes.
Generally speaking, littering refers to throwing away a small amount of household garbage like plastic bottle or wrappers, which is considered as minor offenses in most cases.
On the other hand, illegal dumping is considered as disposing of a large volume of wastes like construction debris, mattresses and old electronic appliance.
Also note that by dumping hazardous items like batteries unproperly, may constitute illegal dumping, even with a relatively small amount.
Q 2. What Is the Penalty for Illegal Dumping?
What's illegal dumping fine or penalty? Is illegal dumping a felony?
A 2: Illegal dumping carries serious fines and can be a Class I felony. The illegal dumping fines vary greatly.
California Penal Code 374.3 makes illegal dumping punishable by a fine up to $10,000.
In Georgia, illegal littering carries fines of at least $100, while illegally dumping large quantities of waste can carry fines of up to $25,000 and/or two years of prison for a second offense.
Q 3. Which City Has Serious Illegal Dumping?
A 3: Almost every city has illegal dumping. However, if you live in the below areas, you might be in a higher risk of suffering illegal dumping.
If you suffer illegal dumping on your property in these areas, take the above 6 effective ways to prevent it.
| America (US) | Texas | Travis County | Dallas | Fort Worth | Austin | Houston | Harris County | ||
| California | Oakland | San Jose | Sacramento | Orange Country | Walnut Creek | Stockton | Santa Cruz | San Bernardino County | |
| Ventura County | Vallejo | Riverside County | Daly City | Fresno | Berkeley | Alameda County | Bakersfield | ||
| Kern County | Lancaster | Hayward | |||||||
| Florida | Pasco County, Tampa, Broward County, Jacksonville, Hillsborough County | ||||||||
| Washington DC | Pierce County, Kitsap County, Snohomish County | ||||||||
| Detroit | Atlanta in Georgia | Minnesota (MN) | San Francisco | Illinois | Colorado | Philadelphia | Columbus & Hamilton in Ohio | Miami | |
| Memphis in Tennessee | Hawaii | Phoenix in Arizona | Denver | Baltimore County & Montgomery County in Maryland | Oregon | Milwaukee in Wisconsin | Wichita Kansas | New Hampshire (NH) | |
| Maine | North Carolina (NC) | South Carolina (SC) | New Mexico | Richmond & Roanoke Virginia | Tucson | Mississippi | Utah | St. Louis | |
| Los Angeles | Delaware | Louisville & Georgetown in Kentucky | New Jersey (NJ) | Yonkers in New York (NYC) | Seattle | Michigan | San Diego | Missouri | |
| Reno & Las Vegas in NV | Vermont | Arkansas | Boston in Massachusetts | Indianapolis in Indiana | |||||
| Australia | NSW | WA | Melbourne | Victoria | Canberra | Wanneroo | Wollongong | Townsville & Gold Coast in Queensland | Tasmania |
| Blacktown & Hornsby in Sydney | Brisbane | Bankstown | Greenville in South Australia | Holroyd | |||||
| UK (England) | Penrith, Wicklow, Glasgow in Scotland | ||||||||
| Canada | Nanaimo & Burnaby in Vancouver Island | Toronto | Calgary | Winnipeg | Markham in York Region | New Brunswick | Vaughan | Edmonton | Caledon |
| Ontario | Brampton | Kelowna | Kingston | Mississauga | Guelph | Halifax | |||
| Ireland | Dublin, Donegal, Wexford, Kildare, Kilkenny, Galway | ||||||||
| South Africa | Durban | Johannesburg | Western Cape | Port Elizabeth | Pretoria | Portland | Wellington in NZ | Malaysia | Thailand |
| India | Barbados | Jamaica | Hong Kong | ||||||
Q 4. How to Report Illegal Dumping?
A 4: If you find an illegal (open) dumping in the ocean, communities or other areas, please take notes of the location, the type and amount of the waste, and other details. Report it online or through the hotline.
If you have any useful tips to stop illegal dumping, or have any questions, please leave them in the comment below!
I have this one particular neighboor that is to lazy to go to the landfill to dump there trash.. So they go through the alley n dump iy n my yard n other people yard.. It makes all of us look bad.. What else can i do yes i have a camera that direct the back of the house.. And i caught the person the other night dumping n the alley way and in my back yard..
Well Chanell, since you've have the evidences captured by your security camera, why not file a police report? I think the police would give you a hand since you've the security camera footage.
Grrr.. I have this neighbor at the back who dump cigarette butts on my patio...its a side by side patios mine and theirs. i did not clean it, i tooked videos of my dirty patio because of their trash they did it twice so my patio is so dirty and I already told it to my landlord and he already saw it... he really wanted to talk to them the thing is my neighbor arrives home late night.. sometimes at midnight they are so loud just talking outside their patio.. and yesterday afternoon they dump water waste from a mop bucket... such not a good neighbor i hope they'll rent a house somewhere else..
Oh Grace, I am really about that. Well, why not talk to your neighbor at weekends in terms of the illegal dumping? If your neighbor denies the truth, hopefully you will have some video or image evidences. If the situation becomes worsen, you can call the police for help.
I've got 2 neighbors dumping in my yard (specifically behind and on the side of my garage). One that lives to the right of my garage and the other that lives directly behind it. I grew up with the crying Native American commercial, remember that? Obviously these mouth breathers never saw it.
I've read a lot of ”try talking to them” comments and here's my take on that – if these inconsiderate, lazy, selfish ding dongs don't think twice about dumping their trash where it doesn't belong, do you really believe you can have an open dialogue with them about their horrendous manners? On top of that, they're totally sneaky about it, pretty much solidifying the fact that they know what they're doing is wrong.
I'm putting the cameras and the ”Private Property” ”No Dumping” signs up later today, maybe they'll get the hint, but I won't hold my breath.
Hello Queen Maeve, I am really sorry about that. If ”try talking to them” doesn't help, you can put the cameras (you've done that!) to record the evidence. After that, you can file a report to the police with the video tapes. You'll gonna stop the illegal dumping in your yard!
Well said really...
I have had this same problem, three times I have caught them in the act. I always get excuses for why they are doing it. ”I didn't know.” You didn't know? So that gave you the right to dump on my property? I'm going to haul them into court next.
Confronting them is worthless most times. As i was driving up my road a couple weeks ago, witnessed a woman throwing out what looked like hands full of baby wipes. I drove past my house (I live on a rural road) pulled up next to her to confront her, she flat out denied it. Caught her again yesterday doing the same thing in the same spot. Ive been talking with the deputies.
I.have a neighbor who is working on her house she's tearing the inside of her house and redoing it at the end of the night she takes the trash and sticks it in the house next door to me and up the street and the city just came and cleaned all of it up now there's rats in it in there and when you got my back through you see rats come into my yard but I asked if she could stopShe denied it but I saw her she continues and continues to keep doing it what can I do , the yards that shes putting the trash in our vacant...... Please help ive called the city.but she continues to still put trash into the vacant yards , rats rats....
Hello Theresa, sorry that you encounter such illegal dumping on your yard. So are you the only witness who saw your neighbor dumping the trash in your vacant yard? And do you have any video recordings?
If you have the evidences, such as the video recordings, or other witnesses, you can file a report to the police. The police will investigate the case and help you stop your neighbor from dumping the litter on your property.
Thank you for the information yes me and my.husband saw her I have no videos but I thinking about putting a camera up so thank you for your help god bless
Hi Theresa, security cameras can definitely record the video tapes of the illegal dumping. Reolink security cameras are a good option.
You can take a look at some videos captured by Reolink security cameras here: https://reolink.com/share-captured-videos/
I have someone littering on my driveway every Sunday. The litter is in an orange bag. I believe the thing inside is an antiquated thing that used to be called a newspaper. I didn't ask for it. I didn't sign up for it. They just started throwing it on my driveway. There is also this yellow book full of phone numbers that someone throws on my driveway once a year as well. Who do I report these litterbugs to?
Hello Aaron, you can report the illegal dumping on your driveway to the police. The police will help you investigate the case.
You can put up a security camera for your driveway to record who threw the litter. With the video tapes, the police can catch the bad guy more easily.
LoL! this gave me a giggle, thank you 🙂
Good stuff bro LOL
I used to get the same thing, and then if you're gone on vacation, it lets all of the burglars in the neighborhood know that you're gone. In our area, we only have the State Police, so I did call them and ask what I could do. They said that if you call whatever business dumped off their newspapers/yellow pages book and ask or tell them to come and get them from under my mail box where I have ”No Soliciting” signs posted, that they have to come and get them within 24 hours, or that I can file littering charges against them. Once I called these business's and let them know that I got my advice from the State Police on littering and that they had to come out and pick up their garbage, or that I could sue them, they did come and get it. I told them, hey, I don't come to your neighborhood and your driveway and throw my garbage out. I deserve the same kind of respect.
Illegal littering is extremely bad 🙁 Hope your neighbors won't throw any garbage in your area any more.
How about a shared driveway neighbor must be cleaning out houses and dumping the trash along the driveway you name it, it's dumped there, they use to have a trash route but instead of taking it to the transfer station they were dumping it in there field
This comment made me really LMFAO , even more so when the Author didn't catch it.
How would one go about putting a letter together to let the owner of the home & also the tenant who is renting the home know that the tenant is throwing trash on the property? I'm not sure where to start. Please Help!
Hello Elizabeth, you can put up a security camera to record the behavior of the tenant who throws the trash.
I don't live in a very clean neighborhood and I don't normally interact with my neighbors but when I do, it's always respectful. My dad has a bad back so he can't go out to cut grass. Whenever I go out to cut grass, I always come across trash with this type of beer can being the most common near the road. Some of the cans aren't even empty! Now that I'm going back to school, I'm getting up and going out early. I saw who the person is who keeps tossing their beer cans in my yard and they know that they're wrong because they slowed down in their car to do it and sped away before I could confront them. I should not have to tell an adult to not throw their garbage anywhere they please. I'm sick and tired of picking up their crap whenever I'm doing yard work. They live just down the road from me and I informed my dad that I saw who did it. I wanted to talk to the person, call the cops or at least pick up all of their garbage and toss it back in their yard. But my dad told me to not to do anything. My dad claims people like that won't listen, the cops won't do anything because it's not hurting us and that it's not a lot of trash. I just don't understand why I should just put up with it and why my dad doesn't want me to take action.
Hello Moranda, really sorry for that.
You don't need to put up with that. You should take effective actions. Instead of confronting with them directly, you can get some evidences before reporting to the police.
Did you take some pictures or videos of their bad behavior? Or do you have security cameras that can record them?
I saw them when I was heading out for school, I didn't pull my phone out in time nor was I close enough to take a picture. I don't have any security cameras but I am thinking about one. Though the price and installation may be a problem.
Hi Moranda, you can put up a security camera to record the footage of the illegal dumping behavior.
Nowadays, security cameras are quite favorable and high-quality due to the advanced technology. So no worries about the price.
Also, the installation is quite easy. May I know where you'll install the security camera so that I can help you pick the suitable type 🙂
Hi Moranda, you can put up a security camera to record the footage of the illegal dumping behavior.
Nowadays, security cameras are quite favorable and high-quality due to the advanced technology. So no worries about the price.
Also, the installation is quite easy. May I know where you'll install the security camera so that I can help you pick the suitable type 🙂
I was thinking of maybe having it in one of the trees by the steep hill in my front yard. The area where the guy likes to dump his cans. That way I don't have to worry about strays messing with it or moving it around just so I can cut the grass.
That would be a nice idea.
So are the Internet and power supply available if you install the camera in the position?
If not, you can try the Reolink Go, which can still function when the Internet and power supply are not available: https://reolink.com/product/reolink-go/
Also you can take a look at the Reolink Argus Pro. This camera can function well when there is no power. And it can record motion-triggered videos even no Internet: https://reolink.com/product/argus-pro/
I had to cut down the hedges that went along my property line and the sidewalk because my neighbors walking to & from the train station would shove their trash into them. Beer/soda cans/bottles, Giant 7/11 slurpy cups, starbucks cups, news papers, bags of half eaten food, blue bags of dog poop, you name it and they would shove it in the hedge instead of taking it home or finding a trash can. Once the hedges were gone I saw many a disappointed look on passersby, can't say I wasn't happy about that.
I have Someone's littering My Front Yard often; opening, and entering My Garage Door from the Outside without a remote; entering My House without a key; vandalizing everything inside the House each time I leave the House; and stealing My Personal Property, after Bankplus Bank failed to treat Me fairly, and performed predatory lending on me when I bought My First House, from them?!
Has anyone else experienced this sort of injustice; collusion; and or organized crimes from anyone?
Oh, I'm really sorry for your loss, Genish.
Have you ever reported to the police?
Hello Harlin, first you can confront him directly to tell him to stop dumping trash in your neighborhood.
But get a backup plan. If possible, please collect some evidences, such as the video clips recording his bad behavior. After that, you can file a complaint to the police with the evidences 🙂
Commercial vendors are using our HOA dumpster to dump their construction debris.Despite signage saying it is for Association use, it continues. What recourse do we have.
Hello Joseph, have you report to the authorities of your local community?
The officers would talk to the vendors and force them not to dump their construction debris.
My question is... What do you do when you have people who will purposely drive from somewhere else to dump any and everything onto your property. Things that a garbage truck wont pick up. I currently have a couch sitting out there but its always something and the problem is, these people do not live nearby.
Our new neighbor dumped bricks and cement on our property behind our backyard. We were informed by another neighbor. Do I report it to the city or the police? Which department is the best one to call?
Hi Susie, before you report to the local police, it is best to take photos or videos as solid evidence. Also, to avoid any privacy issues, it is best not to face your camera to your neighbor's property. Hope this would help.
Not much you van do about that except notify the police but....are they marked spots? On private property or us it on the street? Because those are not ”your” spaces. Anyone can park anywhere at any given time in public parking spots
There's been a lot of illegal dumping on my property recently, and I've been looking for ways that will tell me how to stop this dumping. The ideas that you've shared here seem quite good, and they'll be perfect for me.
Y'all are crazier than June bugs ! You go waste your money on cameras like I did ! Y'all go on and call the cops ! They all are fine with jail . That they are ! The cops can not do a thing but tell them to stop and they do not ! My cameras never catch them they are smarter than my cameras . I could try to get their picture harder but good luck getting blood out of a stone and good luck living with nosy pig thieves next door I know it screws my life up as they dented my rental car
I have a neighbour who lives on the opposite side of the road on a little higher ground than i do and they have their boundary wall put up all well of cement and they keep it clean and maintain it well. We've also been neighbours for more than 20 years, i think. So a few years ago they started bringing their household waste in a huge bin and keeping it in front of our yard at the fences for the municipality to come and collect. The garbage collectors because of their carelessness just throw the bin down and it has damaged our fence many times. We have talked to them about it countless times and have even taken back their bin to their side of the road. But they still do the same act the next morning shamelessly. It's not just the damage of property but the remnants of their garbage also fall on our yard since the waste is not packed in a trash bag. We've had to clean up thus stinking mess countlessly times too. So, i got tired of them doing this, and i lost my cool when their bin came rolling to the middle of our yard and almost hit one of the workers tending the yard. So i exposed them on social media putting everyone on private except one of their relatives who it was meant for. Then my neighbour had the audicity to call me up to remove it and tell me off saying we should have clarified with them first and that it is government's property. I sometimes feel bad about but most of the time I'm just really furious. Did i do the right thing? We've also writyen a formal complaint to the municipal corporation.
You are definitely doing the right thing. Thank you for sharing your experience with us, Cherry. Hope the issue would get fixed soon.
I have a stretch of woodland that borders a Junk/Salvage yard (about 500 feet). The area is not frequented by people but when I do go over there, I notice that, on top of placing/stacking cars against and over the property line (a separate issue), a fairly substantial amount of discarded car parts (trim pieces, plastic headlight, taillight and other car part ”bits”) end up on my property. I've had a couple of confrontations with the owner with the whole property line issue, but never directly addressed the trash. I know he doesn't purposefully ”dump” trash, but feel he should be responsible for collecting and picking up stuff that ends up on our property. What makes things really bad is that there is a creek that run trough my side of the property, sometimes within 10 or 12 feet of the property line. On top of the trash, I've noticed contaminated runoff going into the creek that originates from the junkyard area. How they were ever allowed to open this type of business so close to a creek is beyond me. The place has been in business since before I moved here, so I never had an opportunity to object or voice concerns about the business moving into this area. I'm a little leery about going to our village board and police department. The business does a lot of ”favors” for the town government (they do cheap repairs to the town's vehicles and has even provided them a truck to use, free of charge). I won't quite say they've bribed the town, but I think they walk a very fine line to keep the town government on their side on matters.
Sorry about the mistake and thank you for your recorrection.