I’m sure there is more than just one. :) I live in Lake Merritt too and one of them is always rooting through our trash and recycling bins, even when some residents have tried asking her not to.

I haven't read the article yet, but I would rather that my trash and recyclables were strictly between me and the processing plant. For one thing, we all throw out paper with loads of exploitable information. Secondly, I am fairly certain the Bay Area sorts its trash after collection, so extracting recyclables earlier in the process isn't really of consequence.

Humans sort it later in the process. The elderly are just sorting it a little earlier.