Why are British people so obsessed with bins? | Polly Hudson

Our nation's fascination with rubbish knows no bounds - as was proved by one recent online debateEven if you've never been anywhere near it, the Mumsnet message board is legendary. Since it launched in 2000, it has changed the vernacular - "am I being unreasonable?" is not just a question, it's a shorthand for the type of person who asks it - and introduced us to the penis beaker (one maverick husband's postcoital hygiene regime, made infamous). It's a screenshot of society, a cultural thermometer; if it's happening on Mumsnet, it's big news. And one of the most popular recent threads is about bins.The post that kicked it off was written by a woman who lived opposite an empty house where tenants had moved out. The landlord popped round late at night to drag the bins out for collection, and the next morning, at 6.45am, she could hear the lorry approaching. The coast was clear, and she still had a backlog of rubbish from Christmas. Deciding it was a victimless crime, she slipped one of her bags in their bin, which easily had room. Enterprising? Without a doubt. Moral, though? Continue reading...