# Proplifting

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Proplifting
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Proplifting.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proplifting
> Source revision: 1325267951
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Globalize|article|North America|date=September 2021}}
{{Short description|Practice of taking discarded plant material and propagating new plants from them}}
thumb|A sign at a garden center asking people not to proplift, which it defines as taking cuttings
thumb|Succulent leaves being propagated
'''Proplifting''' (sometimes written '''prop-lifting'''<ref name="Meyer">{{cite news |last1=Meyer |first1=Matt |title=Experts warn of houseplant black market after thief targets botanic garden |url=https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/experts-warn-of-houseplant-black-market-after-thief-targets-botanic-garden/ |access-date=16 September 2021 |agency=Fox 5 |publisher=Nexstar Media Inc. |date=12 March 2021 |location=Encinitas, CA |language=en |url-status=live |archive-date=16 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916223314/https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/experts-warn-of-houseplant-black-market-after-thief-targets-botanic-garden/}}</ref>) is the practice of taking discarded plant material and [propagating](/source/Plant_propagation) new plants from them.<ref name="Wilson">{{cite news |last1=Wilson |first1=Tess |title="Proplifters" Are Getting Plants for Free from Big Box Stores |url=https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/propagate-succulents-proplifting-reddit-tip-260824 |access-date=19 September 2021 |work=Apartment Therapy |publisher=Apartment Therapy, LLC |date=24 July 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="StarPhoenix">{{cite news |title='Proplifting' a budding trend |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/2082978933 |access-date=15 September 2021 |work=Star-Phoenix |date=4 August 2018 |location=Saskatoon, Saskatchewan |page=E.1 |issn=0832-4174 |id={{ProQuest|2082978933}} |language=en |url-status=live |archive-date=16 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916223113/https://www.proquest.com/docview/2082978933}}</ref> Some proplifters engage with the hobby as a form of self-administered [horticultural therapy](/source/horticultural_therapy).<ref name="Brooke"/>

== Etymology and origin ==
The word is a [portmanteau](/source/portmanteau) of 'propagate' and '[shoplifting](/source/shoplifting)'.<ref name="Brooke">{{cite web |last1=Brooke |first1=Eliza |title=This Booming Digital Community Is Obsessed With Bringing Plant Bits Back to Life |url=https://onezero.medium.com/inside-proplifting-a-booming-digital-community-obsessed-with-plant-clippings-c31d15e03c68 |website=One Zero |publisher=Medium |access-date=15 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310055136/https://onezero.medium.com/inside-proplifting-a-booming-digital-community-obsessed-with-plant-clippings-c31d15e03c68 |archive-date=10 March 2021 |language=en |date=25 September 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, this derivation is misleading as ethical proplifters are advised to seek permission first to take such floor sweepings.<ref name="Brooke"/> Though much of the material would be thrown out, it is technically the property of the store or business where found. Also, ethical proplifting excludes the practice of removing leaves from living plants as such unauthorized removal is theft.<ref name="Wilson"/> The term was coined by Sarina Daniels, the founder of the r/proplifting [subreddit](/source/subreddit), as a joke, while she was participating in r/Succulents in 2017.<ref name="Brooke"/><ref name="Chapman">{{cite news |last1=Chapman |first1=Gray |title=A growing concern: is it ever OK to steal plant cuttings? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jan/15/plants-is-it-ok-to-steal-cuttings |access-date=16 September 2021 |work=The Guardian |date=15 January 2020 |language=en |url-status=live |archive-date=16 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916223715/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jan/15/plants-is-it-ok-to-steal-cuttings}}</ref> Though proplifting started as a joke, it quickly became an online community of dedicated practitioners, surprising Daniels.<ref name="Brooke"/> Even so, proplifting practitioners have been accused of being common thieves.<ref name="Brooke"/><ref name="thieves">{{cite web |title=I managed a garden center for years ... (Deleted Post) |url=https://www.reddit.com/r/proplifting/comments/cp5muy/i_managed_a_garden_center_for_years_and_imagine/ |website=r/proplifting |publisher=Reddit.Com |access-date=19 September 2021 |date=12 August 2019 |quote=I managed a garden center for years and imagine how I felt when plants I’d grown and cared for became disfigured from people ripping off leaves. Many of my own plants are propagations but I only took what had fallen off. People like you are no better than common thieves.}}</ref>

== Practice ==
Practitioners often gather fallen leaves of [succulents](/source/succulent_plant) and other plants from the floors of [big-box store](/source/big-box_store)s.<ref name="Nance">{{cite news |last1=Nance |first1=Iseabel |title=The ethics of proplifting and plant theft |url=https://www.dailyuw.com/arts_and_culture/article_85ecb0d6-b914-11eb-9c7b-37fc77e47c54.html |access-date=15 September 2021 |work=The Daily of the University of Washington |date=20 May 2021 |location=Seattle, WA |language=en |url-status=live |archive-date=16 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916224000/https://www.dailyuw.com/arts_and_culture/article_85ecb0d6-b914-11eb-9c7b-37fc77e47c54.html}}</ref> Proponents state the practice rescues something that would otherwise go to waste, and gives the plants a new chance at life.<ref name="Brooke"/> It is also touted as much more economical than purchasing full-grown plants.<ref name="Brooke"/> Some chains, such as Walmart, have even publicly approved of the practice.<ref>{{Cite tweet |author=Walmart |author-link=Walmart |user=Walmart |number=1300703457087754240 |date=1 September 2020 |title=Replying to @bAlliecakes Good way to recycle. 🌱🥀🌿 |language=en |location= |access-date=16 September 2021 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916224729/https://twitter.com/Walmart/status/1300703457087754240 |archive-date=16 September 2021}}</ref> Proplifting from smaller stores is discouraged, as these stores will propagate the material themselves.<ref name="Nance"/>

=== Cutting from live plants ===
Clipping off pieces of living plants for sale is a discouraged practice even among proponents of proplifting.<ref name="Duer">{{cite journal |last1=Duer |first1=Emma |title=Rooted in Relationship |journal=SoFA Journal |date=2020 |issue=4: Exchange |pages=28–29 |url=https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=sofa |access-date=15 September 2021 |publisher=PSU Art + Social Practice |location=Portland, Oregon |language=en |format=PDF |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210916221906/https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1003&context=sofa |archive-date=16 September 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Nance"/> This practice is becoming more common, and not just at large corporate chains.<ref name="Nance"/> Smaller stores also have lost revenue when they cannot sell plants that have been damaged by cutting,<ref name="Nance"/> and even [San Diego Botanic Garden](/source/San_Diego_Botanic_Garden) was targeted by plant thieves cutting living plants.<ref name="Meyer"/> Enthusiasts are strongly encouraged by the community not to clip live plants and to trade or buy rarer cuttings within the community instead.<ref name="Nance"/><ref name="Duer"/> Despite communities of proplifters encouraging asking permission and discouraging cutting and outright theft, others see it as a [slippery slope](/source/slippery_slope) from one to the other.<ref name="Chapman"/>

== Legality ==
Some plants cannot be propagated legally at all, even if purchased. In the United States such actions may violate the [Plant Patent Act of 1930](/source/Plant_Patent_Act_of_1930) or the [Plant Variety Protection Act of 1970](/source/Plant_Variety_Protection_Act_of_1970). In the United States, there is no [common law](/source/common_law) [expectation of privacy](/source/expectation_of_privacy) for [discarded materials](/source/post-consumer_waste),<ref>{{ussc|name=California v. Greenwood|volume=486|page=35|year=1988|pin=40}}</ref> making the collection of plant material from garbage legal.

== See also ==
{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|
* [Seed bombing](/source/Seed_bombing)
* [Plant poaching](/source/Plant_poaching)
* ''[The Orchid Thief](/source/The_Orchid_Thief)''
* [Guerrilla gardening](/source/Guerrilla_gardening)
* [Dumpster diving](/source/Dumpster_diving)
}}

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

== External links ==
* [https://reddit.com/r/proplifting Proplifting subreddit] at [Reddit](/source/Reddit)

{{Horticulture and gardening}}

Category:Retailing-related crime
Category:Horticultural techniques

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Proplifting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proplifting) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proplifting?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.