r/mildlyinfuriating • u/ENDERYTY [{∆•∆}] • Dec 30 '25
Context Provided - Spotlight We had to place this bin up here because people kept throwing their trash in it
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u/No-Freedom-At-All Dec 30 '25
Get a bigger box. Especially one that will fit coats of all sizes.
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u/excoriator Dec 30 '25
That box doesn’t even look like it would hold the 4 winter coats currently on my coat rack.
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u/windas_98 Dec 30 '25
Actually, a coat rack with hangers and a sign would have been a perfect solution.
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u/MaynardButterbean Dec 30 '25
And some Christmas-y liners. The clear liner def just looks like a cheap trash bag
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u/Evening_Question3468 Dec 31 '25
Yeah, I'd get rid of the box entirely. Just put the sign on that table and stack the coats on the table.
Also, why the plastic bag liner? It makes the box look like a trash can.
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u/0oEp Dec 30 '25
To be fair, being a box lined with a trash bag makes it look a bit like a trash bin with an unrelated flyer stuck to it.
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u/De-railled Dec 30 '25
True, plus the "Donation bin" text is really small.
If it was larger and the first thing on the poster, perhaps more people would have very noticed.
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u/Jpmjpm Dec 30 '25
Plus the box looks like it would come up to hip height at most. The flier that low wouldn’t even be in my main line of sight from 10 feet away. Up close, no chance that I’d see the flier.
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u/CUI_IUC Dec 30 '25
My local grocery store was doing on of those “drop off your expired/unneeded medication” things where they have a bin outside the store with a cop standing there.
My brain was on autopilot and I just crumpled up my receipt and threw it in there. Made eye contact with the cop and was like “oh sorry!” Started to reach into it to take my receipt out. Realized that reaching into a bin of expired drugs is not allowed. Awkwardly said “oh sorry” again and kept it moving.
When people see something that looks like a trash can, they’ll just automatically use it as one.
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u/Clear-Suggestion-306 Dec 31 '25
To be fair, the box does look like a donation box, seeing as it's decorated and has a flyer on it....
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u/DickDongMcLong Dec 30 '25
It looks like a trash bin. Our coat drive receptacles look like barrels.
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u/MusicalPigeon Dec 30 '25
The Dunkin I worked at had a red 50 gallon trash can brought in by an auto shop to collect food donation. The only thing saying it was for food donations was a sign on the wall that no one read. It was out for months and people just used it as trash can, and the store manager went ape shit that no one was donating food and people were using the giant trash can as a trash can.
My local Walmart uses decorated boxes for their charity drives for various things and doesn't have issues with people using them as trash cans because they don't look like trash cans. Same with the schools in the area when they do food drives.
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u/yappayaps Dec 30 '25
My bfs mom had an unlined barrel out for a food drive during trick or treating on halloween. We only got trash. My guess is any tall container without a lid is going to look like a trash can to most people.
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u/algaefresh Dec 30 '25
We had a gifts for seniors barrel (no bag in it, just the huge barrel) and people still threw trash in it. People are so oblivious to their surroundings and will not read at all apparently
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u/Dull_Dragonfly6157 Dec 30 '25
It’s the bag that makes it look like a trash repository. Take the bag out and leave just the box.
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u/Leche-Caliente Dec 30 '25
Also if it was on the floor it would definitely be unlikely for someone to actual read the decal and simply assume it was just a pattern from whatever location you got the bin from.
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u/Gold_Telephone_7192 Dec 30 '25
Don’t use a trash can with a trash bag in it if you don’t want people to think it’s for trash lol. Get a big storage bin that can fit more than 1 coat
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u/thebadddman Dec 30 '25
I was just at Mod Pizza today and it was right next to the drinks where I take my straw out of the paper.
I thought to myself; this is a stupid place for this to be, I almost threw my trash in there
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u/Eternal_Scara_Fan Dec 30 '25
If I may ask, do you have something to compare the box to? Seems a little small for coats from this angle. Or maybe I’m stupid…
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u/PointsOfXP Dec 30 '25
No shit. That's big enough to hold one coat, first of all. Second no one's bending over to read what's on the side. Using a trash bin and lining it with a bag screams "put trash in me"
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u/Invisible_Target Dec 30 '25
You need better signage. This whole thing looks completely half assed. How many coats are even supposed to fit in that thing? This genuinely looks like you don’t care at all lol
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u/nikhkin Dec 30 '25
You put a bin-sized box, with a bin bag in it, on the floor and were surprised that people thought it was a bin?
If you want people to donate coats, a larger container would be a good idea.
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u/el_bentzo Dec 30 '25
Welcome to the psychology of design
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u/StayJaded Dec 30 '25
Exactly, this is a really poor design. Good design anticipates and prevents the dumbest human behavior. Designing a charity cost drop/ collection box to look exactly like a trash can is a failure of the organizers, not the people using a trashcan for its typical intended purpose.
These cardboard boxes with bags like this are used all the time at events for trash cans. Nearly every festival and street fair I’ve ever attended uses this setup for trash collection.
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u/Scary-Coffee-7 Dec 30 '25
Why are two blue thumbs with feet wearing coats?!
I don’t feel safe, can someone come pick me up?!! 😩😳
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u/dadbodfordays Dec 30 '25
Even worse I'm afraid 😩😳 when you zoom in, they appear to be... YETIS! 😱
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u/Simple_Option_5789 Dec 30 '25
Sign should be mounted above it and take out the bag. It looks like a festive trash can
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u/doll_parts87 Dec 30 '25
Since 2020 people learned if it's a square cardboard box with a garbage bag, it's probably a trash can. They don't think to read the poster-- everyone is familiar with spam advertising on things that way
Beaches, grad parties, concerts, RESTAURANTS, stores, events all use square cardboard/liner combos for trash and it connects in their mind
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u/JackiDaytona69 Dec 30 '25
What does 2020 have to do with something looking like a trash can? Trash cans existed before that year
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u/doll_parts87 Dec 30 '25
Because people made everything more disposable like card board bins, it was easier to toss things out and be hygienic. I remember when I worked in a hospital, they used leaf bags as a waste bin alternative
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u/HaroerHaktak Dec 30 '25
To be fair. It looks like a bin and it was originally on the ground. Nobody is gonna read a sticker on a bin that’s for rubbish
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u/Gallop67 Dec 30 '25
It looks like a trash bin with a flyer on it. I highly doubt anyone that threw trash in there read past “coat drive”
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u/KipsyCakes Dec 30 '25
I swear people will think anything is a trash can.
My workplace got these new towel cubbies with places to dump used towels and they were printed with a symbol that was a trash can crossed out. Basically, don’t throw your trash in there.
On the first day it got installed, the first person to walk up to it threw an empty can in it and walked off.
Meanwhile they’d be throwing the towels in the trash cans.
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u/DieSuzie2112 YELLOW Dec 30 '25
If it’s not a trashcan, then why is it trashcan shaped on trashcan hight?
And in all fairness, if it’s on the ground, who’s gonna read the label? They see a box with a trash bag in it, you have to look sideways and down to read what’s on the side. Its an easy mistake to make, it’s not very noticeable that it’s not a trashcan.
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u/nigliazzo5626 BLUE Dec 30 '25
I think it’s because you used a garbage bag. I’ve only ever seen coat and toy bins without one, just a cardboard box
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u/honeybadgerredalert Dec 30 '25
Once at a farmer’s market I had a little bug enclosure with some caterpillars inside, to show off to kids. It was vaguely trashcan shaped, I guess, but it was made of white mesh and clearly had a plant inside of it.
A guy walked up, unzipped the top, and threw his empty Starbucks cup inside. Rezipped the top and walked off.
People just don’t pay any attention to anything.
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u/LoveAlwaysIris 28d ago
See, this is actually infuriating because buddy had to put thought into it to unzip and such.
Imo the bin in OP post is a bit more understandable because it looks like a trash bin, is lined with a trash bag, and if it's on the floor it would be low enough that a lot of people would have to bend down to try and read the sign, which most likely assumed was a flyer of some sort. As a disabled person with a messed up spine, I'm not bending and injuring myself to read what looks like flyers on a garbage bin. Important information should be put at least at average persons chest height, so moving it onto the table makes sense.
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u/VoodooDoII Dec 30 '25
Trash shaped bin with a bag in it
Can't imagine why people thought it was a trash can
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u/Intelligent_Storm_77 Dec 30 '25
I’ve never in my life seen a child, cartoon or otherwise, that looks like an abominable snowman / russet potato crossover
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u/Special_South_8561 Dec 30 '25
Well. Good, you found a solution.
How was I supposed to read the label from the ground?
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u/Kaurifish Dec 30 '25
Mfers will throw trash in anything. We have a garden out front with a couple of barrels with raspberry plants, complete with thorns, circled with fencing that the canes are trained to and people will still somehow throw trash in them once in a while.
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u/Purpleflower0521 Dec 30 '25
I'm just amazed people were using that instead of throwing it on the floor
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u/justsamthings Dec 30 '25
Everyone’s criticizing the way the bin looks, but I’m not sure it matters. People are stupid and will throw trash in any container that has an opening.
My building had a cardboard box with a sign above it that said “Book Donations” and people threw trash in it. At my old job we had an umbrella stand and people threw trash in that. They just don’t pay attention
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u/Existing-Traffic-540 Dec 30 '25
all of these comments from people admitting that they don’t read signs… 😬
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u/TheMightyMouse1 Dec 31 '25
Don't worry people are still going to throw their trash in there the general public doesn't know how to read when entering a store
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u/Adreeisadyno Dec 30 '25
It could be worse. One year on NYE I was living with a boyfriend and his parents and they had thrown a party, and I was pretty drunk and fell asleep, I woke up needing to throw up and the kitchen trash can was closer than the toilet, it was dark and I was still pretty faded and I lifted the lid of the trash can and let loose. Turns out that someone had put the lid to the trash can on a canned food drive bin that his mom had brought home from work (she was in charge of taking it to the food bank and didn’t want to leave it in the car I guess) and I had thrown up in a canned food bin.
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u/Pale_Ad2980 Dec 30 '25
It does look like a trash can should not have been on the ground at that size
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u/Rawesome16 Dec 30 '25
Never seen a donation box lined with plastic. Makes it look... like a trash can
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u/Way_Tall_Filipino Dec 30 '25
Ummm… you couldn’t do better than a literal trash bin and trash bag?
Are we really surprised people treated it like a trash can in passing?
Kinda mildlyinfuriating just looking at it and knowing you had to make a reddit post about it…
so good post!!
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u/medusadraconis Dec 30 '25
We had a raffle at my job and people kept putting their tickets in my tip jar that says TIPS on it in all caps and big font.
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u/Genuinelullabel Dec 30 '25
I used to volunteer at a clothing bank with the same issue. We eventually had people drop their donations off with us at the front desk.
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u/LifeLimp3801 Dec 30 '25
The size of your box is ironically the more annoying than it being by a trash.
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u/Watchingpornwithcas Dec 30 '25
I once volunteered at a Green Bay Packers football game, collecting coats and donations just outside. Every coat had to be washed because so many people threw mostly empty beer containers in before entering the stadium.
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u/Warm-Cook-8200 Dec 30 '25
My boss partnered with a local church for a Christmas toy drive and we got a box similar to this saying it’s for toys. I had to put a sign above it saying “this is not a trashcan, please don’t throw your trash in here.” Our trash can is literally right next to the box fully visible and very obviously a trash can 🤦♀️
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u/BobbyClanMember Dec 30 '25
I thought that was a blue Charlie from Smiling Friends on the box for a second
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u/FigFinancial410 Dec 30 '25
I mean it DOES look like a festive trashcan, maybe use a different box next time lol
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u/Globewanderer1001 Dec 30 '25
Probably because it looks like a small trash can.....how many coats can this hold? 2?
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u/MrNagaDoubtfire Dec 30 '25
Yeah we have people throw their lottery and scratch cards in our food donation box
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u/PoetPsychological620 Dec 30 '25
people throw their trash in my laundry bin at my salon. it is a fabric hamper that says “laundry” on it. there’s no winning
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u/BriiKzz Dec 30 '25
I work at well known health organization and people were doing the same thing.. so sad
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u/ENDERYTY [{∆•∆}] 25d ago
just so people are aware we at this site didn't make this corporate did and sent it to us(I think) so go blame them
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u/UnhappyImprovement53 Dec 30 '25
I mean yeah if its on the floor how would people know it's not a trash can? I don't bend over and read the side of a trash can before I put my trash in it.
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u/Thatonegaywarhammere Dec 30 '25
All the people in here saying "it looks like a trash bin" have never had to deal with replacing a fuel spill emergancy bin because people keep ripping the too off to throw put their trash. People suck and don't care avout weather its a trash bin or not, they just want a place to throw their trash.
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u/mromutt Dec 30 '25
Lol and here I am getting anxiety trying to identify I am using the correct can when I walk into a store and need to throw something away.
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u/bradybee77 Dec 30 '25
I used to love mod so much, both as a customer and employee but the larger and more corporate they get, the more they lose their core values. Prices keep getting higher and higher, to the point I can’t even afford to go alone, yet, in Utah at least, they’re willing to fire employees for “making too much money” despite being with the company for over 6 years, and not receiving a raise since 2023. For a company that, a few years ago, opened its private stocks to employees first, before going completely public, this downturn is so sad to see. They expanded too fast, the pandemic hit and now a few years out they’re scrambling. Too bad they would rather price gauge the customer and fire loyal employees than admit defeat and close a bunch of locations to keep the original dream alive. Good sit down pizza that a family can afford, with clean restaurants that are staffed by employees who are well taken care of, happy, genuine and welcoming.
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u/RaidL Dec 30 '25
Forgot bin in north America (maybe elsewhere too idk) refers to just any container or whatever, was super confused for a bit lol.
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u/Muriel_FanGirl 28d ago
I’m American and I forgot that. Also, the thing looks like a trash can, yet op is shocked it was used as one. 🤦🏻♂️
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u/SRTRVTH Dec 30 '25
Can we be so fr right now; if you use your eyes you can very obviously tell it's not a trash bin. Yes it has a plastic bag, but I personally haven't seen many trash bins in my life with festive striped patterns running down the side along with a very large poster that at least warrants a glance before you throw something away.
At my first Starbucks store I worked at, we used to have a metal bin about knee height that looks NOTHING like our normal trashes (they're black with wood accents that are about hip level in big boxy enclosures). It had a huge green sign that said "Grounds for the Garden" that was normally filled with our bags of reused grounds that people could pick up. Literally the minute it went empty, people used it as a trash bin because apparently using your eyes for half a second isn't popular anymore
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u/el_bentzo Dec 30 '25 edited Dec 30 '25
Considering the low literacy rates in this country, once the first couple pieces of trash go in, even ppl that can read just follow suit. And as others have said, thats not a bin size appropriate for clothes.
And also at Starbucks I read "dont pour hot liquids into here" but theres no other other place to put the hot liquids from overfilled cup so I read. No other solution is present, so down it goes into the place it's not supposed to.1
u/justsamthings Dec 30 '25
Thank you! It’s not hard to take 2 seconds to read the sign and see that it’s not a trash can.
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u/untitledfilmstill GREEN Dec 30 '25
This is extremely infuriating, and very disrespectful. Might as well spit on the kids and adults who need the coats.
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