> Are you sure about this? I'm pretty sure there are several laws to > prevent people from going around looking in other peoples' garbage. > Trespassing, for one. In residential neighborhoods in Minneapolis it's > usually "using an alley as a thoroughfare" that police use to make > stops. IANAL and statutes may change, but when I studied contact law, we were told anything set out for the trash is considered "abandoned property." That why the paparazzi can legally dumpster dive through celebrities trash (and why you should shred financial documents before disposal). I also know that in Minneapolis it's supposedly illegal to "harvest" recycling. The city encourages you to report this to 911. I'm glad to see the metal return to the recycling stream, but get annoyed when they leave a mess of shattered plastic and glass in the alley after taking only the copper yoke from an old TV or CRT.