While reusing someone’s trash might be noble, it’s also an intrusion into their privacy. I take it as very common for ISU students and Ames residents to assume that their garbage will be destroyed thanks to our power plant. And we citizens do have a few things we’d like to keep private.

Unfortunately there is no law that protects the privacy of our garbage of which I know. Worse, we aren’t allowed to burn our own garbage within the city limits. So while it’s quite simple to destroy papers via a shredder, it is much harder to destroy empty prescription medicine bottles with their labels, photo negatives (the film kind) or a penis mold.

Looking at the front-page picture of the Iowa State Daily, it looks more like Robert Ewing is snooping through private papers than collecting recycling. He should really consider if it is ethically proper to go through someone’s garbage.