These people are flat out stealing from the citizens of mountain view.
It costs money to have a recycling pickup program, costs that are
lessened by the amount of recyclables the collection company gets.
Its not trash, its money you don't have to pay to the garbage company.
If curbside recyclables are reduced through theft, we'll all end up
paying in increased fees. We need to photograph these people and call the police.
And fwiw, I also see very nice looking people picking through clothing donation bags left on curbs. The last one I saw drove a new Mercedese so it may be that the person you saw was not hard off as you suspect.
It doesn't matter though, there's no economic cut-off that allows some people to steal from the rest. TAKE THEIR PICTURE AND CALL THE POLICE!