It’s a sad but true fact that in some suburbs across Sydney, young people are turning their energy to burning bins as a form of Friday or Saturday night entertainment. Some are setting the bins on fire just for the sake of doing it. Others, are getting high on the fumes caused by the toxins in the plastic melting.
Some experts believe that inhaling the smoke from burning rubbish bins is worse for the body than sniffing petrol or glue. And while concerned parents need to help to address this problem, many people have the annoying issue of having to replace bins that are damaged and vandalised because they are being used inappropriately.
Once thing you don’t want to do is come face to face with the vandal who is causing damage to your bin(s). When people are intoxicated, they do not behave rationally and you don’t want to get caught up in something that could potentially become dangerous. Here, we’ve listed a number of tips for keeping your bins, and yourself, safe.
How to minimise the risk of your bins being set on fire
- One of the best ways to ensure that vandals are unable to set your bins on fire is to always be diligent when bringing them in once they’ve been emptied. Secure your bins behind a locked side gate, or if need be, keep them in your garage. The main idea is to keep them out of sight. The easier you make it to access your bins, the more likely you’ll encounter these sorts of problems.
- Install security systems to find out who the perpetrators are. The next step is to install security surveillance on your property. Chances are, if you’ve been a repeat victim of vandals trying to access and burn your bin, they will be back. CCTV systems, video cameras and video surveillance systems will ensure you are able to capture the criminals doing this on HD video, which will be very useful for Police and will help them catch the offenders.
- Using signage that references your security systems is the next step. At your home or place of business, if you’ve installed surveillance equipment, it will most certainly deter people from doing the wrong thing. Let people that enter your property or your business know that if they want to attempt to set your bin on fire, you will be capturing the entire thing on camera. Most of the time, this will scare people away, and they won’t risk getting caught.
- Protecting your home and your business from vandals who don’t respect your property is of utmost importance. By taking the necessary steps you should be able to stop your bins from being set on fire, and in the case that they do, if you follow the suggestions above, you’ll be able to help the local authorities catch the vandals that have been doing this. Chances are you’ll be doing a great service to your community as well because if they are setting your bin on fire, it’s likely that they have be setting other people’s bins on fire as well.
