Does that include compostable grass clipping & leaves?
If so I am a outlaw, with out a tat or a bike:-).

"Scavanging" can be illegal, depending on where you do it. if you go onto private proerty to do that, with out the property owners permission, you would be trespassing and subject to arrest, but generally if the stuff you "scavange" is piled on the curb for pickup that is in a public area, street right of way, and not on private property. No trespass in that instance.

The article is really about recovering coupons from the trash and reusing them, which is of course fraud, but it does seem to comment on the larger issue of dumpster diving. I would not say that anyone who enters a dumpster is not concerned with safety. I do it quite often and I'm Mr. Safety.

The comment was either clueless (not understanding the fact that some inherently 'dangerous' activities can be done safely with proper procautions),

OR

the writer was an elitist snob who assumes that anyone who dumpster dives is a homeless bum whose last worry is 'safety'. I have a PhD and a job. Sorry, Charlie!

Yeah, you got it Toxcrusadr! Nobody knows our business. I don't see how it is fraud though to take extra coupons. You could also ask your neighbors to save you the sections they don't read. It would be the same thing. Yeah, sure, the newspaper exists so you buy it to use the coupons that they sell to stay in business. But well, that's life...

Depending upon the contract the contents of a dumpster may be the property of the owner of the dumpster.

doowad, if I understand it correctly, I think the scam in that case was that the store employees were collecting used coupons from the store's trash and recycling them for profit. I would have no problem with someone recovering coupons from general trash, but that's cheating.

I actually saw a lady the other day at the recycling dropoff near my house, going through the small magazine and newspaper dumpster, pulling out ad inserts discarded by other recyclers. I chatted with her and she said she had saved $150 at one store using coupons. I said great, more power to ya. She had a little girl and I bet she or her husband is out of work and they need all the help they can get. I wish the rest of the populace was half as ambitious and resourceful.

Check out these 2 sites for interesting reading on this subject!

http://www.thelivingweb.net/dumpster_diving_for_fun_and_profit.html

http://www.howtodothings.com/business/how-to-make-money-dumpster-diving

Using coupons that haven't already been used isn't fraud or theft. Using coupons that have been used, and discarded, would be fraud or theft but not that I would care.

Dumpster diving is illegal, and is also potentially dangerous, but obviously can and is done without issues by being careful. People do die in dumpsters, but usually it's the passed-out wino who gets dumped into the crusher with the trash, not someone salvaging stuff. But there's also no knowing just what's in there when you climb in - you could get stabbed by a needle or broken glass or get something caustic or toxic on you. Personally I only take what I can reach from the outside.

Owners of dumpsters consider anything in the dumpster to be their property and scavenging is stealing. They don't want any potential liability for injuries to scavengers. Can't say as I blame them there, in our lawsuit-happy society. But so long as someone's careful and willing to take responsibility for whatever happens to them, go for it. Curbside recyclables represent income to the collection company, but still, if you can reuse it yourself, go for it.

Even yard waste for composting represents income, but I don't approve of those contracts like my city has. The city pays a private compost company to take the yard waste, and that company turns around and sells the compost. I know all about the economics of commercial composting yadda yadda ya but still, public entities should not be paying private companies to take the raw materials they will sell for private profit. That's my tax dollars subsidizing a for-profit enterprise. It would be one thing if city residents got some of the compost for free in return but we don't. I'd even let the company take the materials for free, but that's not how it works either. The city pays to collect the materials, and charges us for the privilege, and then pays the company to take them. So I don't participate in the yard waste program, I recycle everything on site which is more sustainable anyway, and if you want to take other people's stuff they put on the curb, I'm cheering you on.

I would respectfully disagree with you that dumpster diving is illegal. It depends on local laws.

I also don't think you can assume that all dumpster owners consider the trash their property and that they consider scavenging stealing. If you ask the management (whether of an apartment complex or a store) they are certainly concerned about liability for injury. Retail stores are concerned about people pulling out discarded items and returning them for cash or store credit. But other than that I bet many if not most of them couldn't care less about the value of the trash. It has none, to them, or they wouldn't have thrown it out.