Bird Street Art

Good to see the locals round here taking an interest in their birds. The local kids have obviously been sketching birds they have seen- complete with notes and annotations. I can't quite work out what the bottom bird is supposed to be- I guess a Lesser Whitethoat but maybe an Eastern Kingbird, that one of the local youth found.

The Sutton Up-rising

It is all kicking off around here. The illegal Iraq war didn't start it, the rise in murders in the borough didn't ignite the flames, wide scale abuse of the welfare system was ignored, illegal loan sharking by high street banks-never mind, the unjust education systems was brushed under the carpet- but at last they have had enough, they have been pushed too far and decided to make a stand. Why? because the garden waste disposal system has been changed. People have been hit where it hurts most- in the garden.

Sutton have decided to abolish the old system of free garden waste collection and disposal. They have now introduced a system which is designed to get people to take their own rubbish to the local organic dumps, to encourage composting and also to introduce a charge for a more limited collection service.

Arguments FOR:
Residents should contribute money towards a garden waste disposal service to help pay for other types of recycling- there is a cost to creating a sustainable environment and residents should be willing to pay for it
Residents should be encouraged to compost more waste and recycle in the garden environment- this is moving towards a sustainable future
By making residents drive to the dump at their own cost, it will encouraged them to compost more- it is like an anti-incentive.

Arguments AGAINST:
Residents already pay enough council tax and if it was not wasted by bad management, there would be enough to introduce more recycling without having to raise any more revenue
Composting is a slow process and it is impossible to dispose of all the garden waste generated in this way
The composting bins which are provided are inadequate. They do not generate enough heat to kill certain types of weed seeds. When the compost is spread onto the lawns- weeds are spread all over the garden.
Residents would like to dispose of all their waste by composting but it is impossible so they are forced to drive to the dump. Thousands of residents driving to the dump is not very good for Sutton's carbon footprint and it defeats the whole object of an environmental scheme. One truck going round picking up all the waste makes a lot more sense.


So the solution? We will see what they all come up with.

Surbiton Swans

You're nicked!

Accidently went into zone five, when I only had a one to four zone travel card. They fined me £20. Then today, got a £40 parking fine for thinking that parking in a car park was free on a sunday. Things come in threes- so probably get arrested tomorrow (after they look through the CCTV tapes), for carrying out consumer terrorism on a parking meter.

SID

Whenever I tell people I like birds, they always ask- 'what? the ones with two or four legs'. Well I have never seen a bird with any more than two legs. I have also been on the look out for the other type of bird (not my reference) to see if I can find one with four legs. Yet again, this one disappointed me by only having two.