In many (most?) areas, trash enters the public domain as soon as it hits the curb (it's on public property, after all). Dumpster diving is a real thing that's c

In many (most?) areas, trash enters the public domain as soon as it hits the curb (it's on public property, after all). Dumpster diving is a real thing that's completely legal, provided you don't make a mess (that's littering) and provided you don't trespass. Some malls keep dumpsters on their property to prevent dumpster diving, but many don't. I actually thought of getting into it, but I never bothered to actually get out and do it since the reward seemed so small compared to other things I could spend my time on. However, there's definitely a community of dumpster divers out there that do it on the regular. I guess I'm only somewhat surprised that this is illegal in California, and I'm not at all surprised that it's illegal in the Bay Area (there are a lot more wealthy people that don't want undesirables picking through their trash).