Asking a guest to take out the trash?

[Thomas3208]

If the trash at our place must be put out in the evening on Thursday  is it okay to ask the guest to take the trash from the back of the house to the curb?

Will this be considered an imposition, especially because we charge a cleaning fee?

Any experience that you can share or just your opinion....  would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[Pat271 · Accepted solution]

I ask guests to remove their trash from the unit because we live in a tropical location, and bugs will be attracted to trash left out. I ask them to  put their dirty dishes in the dishwasher for the same reason. These are my only 2 “rules”, and they really don’t have anything to do with whether I have a cleaning fee or not. My guests seem to understand this, and no one has ever complained.

[Thomas3208]

@Pat271 , thank you!

[Ana2038]

@Thomas3208 , is your question on taking out the trash pertaining to the trash bin your local municipality collects every week or trash from your unit that is disposed of at time of checkout/or when trash cans in your unit are full, that is then taken to your trash bin that is kept outside?  

Personally, if it is the trash bin that is collected on a weekly basis by your local municipality, I would feel awkward asking my guest to take my weekly trash bins out to the curb to be picked up by the garbage/waste management trucks. If your question pertains to the latter, refer to @Pat271 advice.

Best—

[Pat271]

@Ana2038  That’s a good point. I once had a host ask us to take all garbage to the nearest recycling facility, 7 miles away. That was a bit much, I thought.

[Dawn241]

Yes, we have to do this sometimes. I actually pay them $5 to take it out and $5 to bring it back in if they are still there. 

[Jess167]

@Thomas3208 I think it's case by case. In my case, for 14 years on our rural island I hauled all the trash myself. I would ask the guests to place their bags in the outside bins and I would collect after departure.

If they were there longer than 1 week, I would inform them I would text them ahead of time and come by weekly (outside the home) to collect trash and recycling.

Now I pay for trash collection and I leave a note for guests to please wheel the bin out the end of our gravel driveway by Thursday evening for Friday pick up, so I don't have to come onto the property while they are there. It's not part of the cleaning fee, and most of my guests are returnees and are happy to do so. If their departure is on a Thurs/Fri, then I do it myself. I like the good idea of leaving a $5 bill to oil the wheels of the bin.

Personally, as a frequent Airbnb guest, if I were in a rural area, I would understand if a host asked me to place a bin by the road - or bring it back in empty - within a reasonable distance. 

[Judith970]

I have been a guest a many bnb. I have a suggestion if you would put a sign up near or with your wifi info what day of week and time to put trash cans out .. most guests would have no problem putting them out on curb. If info is only on agreement then others in bnb don't know. 

I am staying with family helping with post surgery care. They can't do the chores and I didn't rent the home. This has happened twice and then trash can are overflowing. 

[Jonas416]

As a renter I'm say it depends 

Taking out my own trash to the can, no problem. 

Taking a bin of my trash to the curb, also no problem.

But taking the bin when it was filled by others, this has been a problem. Twice I've been in units where the owner 'required' it. Both were bad experiences. 

The first time the trash and recycling bins both turned out to be full of concrete.  I dragged them to the curb an ended up dripping in sweat. It was ridiculous. 

The second time, shortly after taking it to the curb the trash started beeping. Continuously.  Loudly (like a smoke alarm on full alert).  I peeked inside and the smell was god-awful.  It wasn't even my trash!!

I contacted the owner who said "I'll ask the housekeeper and previous tenant".  No offer the come resolve the problem.

I shook the bin repeatedly and it finally stopped.

In the first case, the rental house itself was a nightmare -- a flooded toilet, broken furniture that injured a child and cockroaches.  But the second place was lovely, just this minor avoidable setback with the garbage.

So I'd say no, don't ask your tenants to take the bins to the street unless it is their trash (i.e. they're there for a week).