LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Our trash is personal, SEA sifters

By:

Posted: 11/11/08

To the Editor:

I was wondering how Students for Environmental Action reconciles going through people's garbage with respecting their privacy ("Think before you trash," Nov. 4 issue). This has been on my mind particularly since SEA has been conducting regular reviews of how well each hall in my dormitory recycled that week. The issue of the privacy of one's property, even when tossed, is substantial enough to have made it to the Supreme Court. The crux of California v. Greenwood (1988) was whether or not one has a reasonable expectation to privacy when throwing out garbage. Admittedly, our situation is quite different. Fellow students, not the government, are sorting our garbage and not to find incriminating evidence but for a noble cause. I saw, however, no advance notice of SEA's project, and thus had a reasonable expectation that there was no prior need to sort my garbage in order to throw away any private items elsewhere. In any case this isn't, at heart, a legal issue; certainly we can agree that we should feel safe and secure in our dormitories. Does SEA have a policy regarding what to do if it comes across, say, graded papers, prescription vials with sensitive medical information and the like?

-Judah Marans '11