Stealing or recycling?

I was having a conversation with my great Aunt on Thursday, June 12, 2008. The conversation centered on community involvement, peer pressure among high school students, etc. My Aunt then referenced an article she had read that morning in the Oakland Tribune. “This man is really trying to make a difference. He collects cans from the garbage and is making more money now than he did working. He’s studying to be an attorney!” My first question about this person's enterprising venture was , “Is he taking the recycled cans from the blue bins?” She thought about it and said “…Yes, I think so.” “Then he’ll make a good attorney, He’s already a crook.” I replied, jokingly.

In most major California cities, taking recycled materials from then the recycled bins is illegal. However, since I have not lived in Oakland for some time, I thought that I should: 1) read the article before judging this man too harshly. 2) Look up the Oakland’s laws covering this topic.

I could not locate the specific code referencing taking recycled material from the recycling containers on the City’s website, so I emailed the branch responsible for the recycling program. I was told that it is, in fact, illegal for a person to remove items out of the blue or gray bins, once they have been placed to curbside by the owner for pick up by the City.

I then read the article entitled “Recycleman Philosopher”. The reporter does reference the man taking cans from her blue recycled bins. (She also references the use of stolen shopping carts as being an acceptable practice by other dumpster divers, and suggestively states that the police should perhaps not harass the entrepreneurs.

So here is the deal. By publishing the Recycleman Philosopher article, the Oakland Tribune seems to be endorsing the theft of City property, the theft of shopping carts, and the increase of waste management fees to subsidize the amount of recycled materials not making it to the recycling plants by way of the City’s recycling program. It seems reasonable to assume (although I did not verify this next statement) that waste management fees assessed to home owners would increase, if the amount of money generated through the collection of recycled material doesn’t come close to the amount of money spent of running a viable program.

Recycling is good for the City and good for the country. One individual should not profit from a program put in place to benefit the masses. This man taking cans from the recycling bins should not be praised or glorified, he should be encourage to rummage through the trash (black bins) to locate items that should have been recycled. This act would not be the act of a thief, but the actions of a person truly concerned about the direction Oakland should be headed.

John Brooks