Smart Mums Go...

I am pretty green.

And that includes on the credulity side, so if there is a spoof to be played, I'll be the first victim.

However, I must say I rather screeched to a mental halt at this ad in my local paper.

Are they really trying to say, to the extent of blowing a fair whack on the message and media, that the perfect gift from cash-strapped kids (even middle--aged ones) to their Mums on Mother's Day is a... £26 licence to throw out garden waste?

Now I know there are many and varied Mums out there, but in the 'thrill' stakes, perfect gift-wise, I'd say that was kind of a stretch, even for the most optimistic local authority.

NEWS/LOCAL - UK - SL area - RE:warding News

After a bit of a downer stretch, I'm happy to track down a positive.

Alerted by a Local Government story in one of my daily gazillion newsletters, I am happy to bring you this via The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council website:

RecycleBank - Rewarding You for Recycling

Taking some key points from the blurb:

Working in partnership with Veolia Environmental Services and RecycleBank, the Council will be the first in the UK to trial Rewards for recycling - an initiative that has already been successful in the United States where it has helped to boost recycling rates significantly.

It works by weighing the amount of recycling materials produced by participating households, using special equipment in the collection lorries. Households are set up with a unique RecycleBank Rewards Account, which means the more you recycle the more Points you accumulate to use in local and national outlets or for donations to charity.

The Council has underlined that the reward scheme is NOT a forerunner to any kind of penalty system. The Royal Borough believes in rewarding residents for recycling, not imposing penalties, and will not introduce 'pay-as-you-throw' or any similar scheme.

As it's a first, and only in that area, I could not access any more details or sign up, but I have asked to be kept informed and will share as and when I am.

But, looking at that last para alone, what's not to like?

NEWS/LOCAL - UK - HR area- Litter pick, Hereford, April 1st

Hmmn. This needs thinking about.

It will work fine on the main site (only all those from overseas using my advised HR9 postcode will get a lot of stuff that may be a tad beyond an easy commute... sorry:() when we start popping stuff up there again.

Here, well, all of you are getting it. For now, if you see a 'LOCAL' heading and the title and/or locale doesn't appeal... please ignore.

But if it does, read on MacDuff!

As taken from their PR:

Some local worthies are planning on doing a litter pick in Hereford city on April 1st. (I am assuming this isn't, well, you know... a leg pull. But check!).

The plan is to meet at M&S in High Town at 5 pm, pick for an hour or so and then retire to the pub.

It's not a substitute for the Council, but a way to bring concerned people together and draw attention to the problem while actually cleaning up some of the mess in the City.

They are looking for a few more volunteers. If you'd like to come along, do let them know. Or if you know of others who would like to come along, please encourage them (as Junkk.com is doing here) to get in touch, via jesse4hereford@gmail.com. They have some kit already but need to know numbers in order to locate more.

Civic share, over and out.