sf wrote:
>
> On Tue, 4 Aug 2009 12:52:46 -0700 (PDT), Nancy2
> > wrote:
>
> >Here, if there is waste in a can, at the curb, ready for pickup,
> >anyone can have what they want -- it's not stealing, once it's
> >discarded.
>
> As far as the recyclables (paper, cans, bottles) in my City, it *is*
> stealing because recycling helps keep the garbage bill down.
> Sometimes our rate is lowered for a month because they got enough
> recycling the month before to give us that break.

That's what was claimed by the recyclers in Berkeley
when Eldridge Cleaver was arrested for "stealing" cans
left out for recycling, but a judge found him innocent.