Whose trash is that

At last I'm jumping on the blogging bandwagon to join all the rest of people here.

Will just start by small revelation I recently had.

Yes, it's coming from legal area, from court decision to be exact. And yes, it's about garbage, trash, refuse.

Is your trash private? Is it valuable? How does it belong to and who has rights to it?

In California v. Greenwood the Supreme Court of US ruled that once your trash is placed out for disposal it is no longer protected by 4th Amendment. Hence, you have no rights to it; it becomes public property, up for anyone to do whatever they please.
Short version
Legal version of the case

Now, what are the implications? Sure, you are not drug dealer.
So you think your trash can not tell a story about you? Like what medicine you're taking, credit cards you're using, magazines you're reading, drinks you favor, etc.

Think of it next time you discard your garbage.