Proud and Panicky!!

[Milims]

My son (12) set off for the Houses of Parliament today. He's one of 15 picked from his school to go and have a debate about the issue of charging for litter collection. He's written a really good speech against charging, saying that it will encourage fly tipping and perhaps for lower income familes it could led to debt etc and that we should all be encouraged to reclycle and reuse as much as possible. So I'm really really proud of him - its a fantastic opportunity and a really important cause that he's sticking up for - but it's the first time he's been this far away from home and I'm missing him!! lol Are mums really allowed to be that much of a softy??

[Annpan]

You bet - thats a Mums job, and obviously you have done a good job so far.

You must be exceptionally proud of him, what a great kid.

Just have his favourite tea and a big hug ready for his return

[red]

wot Ann said! - ys you are sposed to be nervous - but what a cool experience for him

[Shirley]

YAY nice one Milims son!!

YES - as Ann and Red have said... you are bound to be nervous but YAY how right to be proud.

Please ask him to let us know how he went on.

[glenniedragon]

He may get a taste for pulic speaking......who knows, he might like Gordon's job in the future! My mum still worries about me when I go to 'the big City', and I'm heading 40- so yes I think mums are allowed to worritt a bit-Mine are only 7 and 4 so I worritt when they're just out of eye/ear shot!

kind thoughts
Deb

[Silver Ether]

oh thats wonderful .. I dont kow him but I am proud too ... the nervous/ worry thing nevre goes away ... our lad is 24, living in Glasgow if I dont here from him everyday one way or another I get in a state ... he`s been there nearly four years ... where does the time go ...

I would love to hear how it goes ...

[vixnpips]

YIPPPEEEE well done son and mum !!!
I'm sure he'll love it.. what a great experience for him.

And yes your allowed to be a big softy and panic and miss him and worry... that's your job! We all do it!!

[Milims]

Yay - my boy's back!! He's had a fantastic time - although the trip was a bit disrupted by the bomb scare and apparently a shooting outside his hotel - not that I was worried at all gulp!
When they arrived the head teacher grabbed my hand and told me that after the debate - which they won - he was taken aside by an MP and told that he would make an excellent parliamentary speaker when he was older! Lets just hope that if he takes up politics (instead of forensic science!) he stands for the Green Party!

[Annpan]

[Jandra]

I think I would have wetted myself if I would have had to speak to the parliament when I was 15! As a matter of fact I'm not sure how I'd do now that I'm 38 :-)

As a matter of curiosity... don't you pay for litter collection at all in the UK? In the Netherlands every household is charged an amount 'environmental tax' which includes litter collection of regular household waste. The amount is different per county. Everyone has to pay, so fly tipping is minimal as you can just as well have it collected. But nowadays you also have to pay for bringing in non-household garbage (big bulky trash like garden soil, concrete slabs etc) which isn't collected 'cause it's too heavy. The amount isn't prohibitive, in my opinion. Just a few euro's per cubic metre. And some bulky garbage is collected (for free) and the recycling shop collects old but functional kitchen appliances, furniture etc.

I don't think we have any active landfills left, nowadays all garbage is processed in refuse incinerators. Our country is too small to fill it with landfills. Perhaps incineration is more expensive and that's why we have to pay taxes.

Well, musings on garbage and how different countries deal with it. Just wanted to say: well done! to your son.

Jandra

[Milims]

Hi Jandra. Here we pay what they call Council Tax - apparently based on your house value and the area in which you live. This apparently covers things like emergency services, education and a small portion towards refuse collection.
In this area we have a 2 bin system - that is one week they collect general waste and on the next week they collect recyclable waste. For recycling we have what they call a "mingle bin" - that is we put all the waste which is classed as recyclable into one bin and then its sorted elsewhere.
If we want to dispose of larger items or extra general waste there is a £10 charge for 3 items - that means £10 for a 3 piece suite but the cushions, because they are loose are classed as entirely separate and will be charged for.
The debate that my son was taking part in was about the fact that they are now trying to introduce an extra charge for collecting household waste on top of what we pay in Council Tax. The idea is that it would encourage more recycling rather than just dumping any old thing! The problem is - as my son pointed out - this will encourage people to fly tip and may also cause lower income families to incur debt. As you can imagine, there are many of us against an extra charge for waste collection - especially those of us who recycle as much as we can.
Sadly it seems that in this area the best way they can think of to get rid of rubbish is to dig a big hole and put it in!! It would be fantastic if they could do something constructive with it like produce an alternative energy source - but hey it seems that we have more sense about these things than those who really decide!
PS - Do you have freecycle there?

[Jandra]

Milims, Thanks for explaining. I guess our tax is quite similar to your council tax. The council of my town does not charge extra for garbage which has to be picked up, but I know some councils do charge for this. I'm not sure what the amount charged is, but £10 for 3 items seems quite hefty to me.
In the Netherlands there is a fairly popular opinion that the polluter should pay. People who do their best to minimise the amount of waste should profit and people who have lots of garbage should pay more. Same with cars: people who drive petrol guzzling cars should pay more tax than people who drive efficient cars. I am not against this principle, but where implementing it would mean more fly tipping I would tend to be very careful. Because if that happens, everybody loses.

We do have a 2-bin system: one week the bin with regular household garbage is collected, the other week the bin with compostable waste is collected. That bin can contain food leftovers, grass clippings etc. At about 200 m from our front door we have a collection station for paper and glass. This used to be collected separately, but now they have these bins with a reservoir underground.

Freecycle: we actually do have some freecycle groups in the Netherlands. I didn't know, but after your question I checked it on the Internet. I do not have a local group here, though. There is a website which is called collect-for-free, where people put things they want to get rid of that which may be of interest to other people. That's a similar initiative, though not localised as is freecycle.

Regards, Jandra

[Pilsbury]

this week i helped a feirnd clear the garden of the council flat she has just been given, now the flat is owned but the council but the garden hadnt been touched in years, it is about 25 ft ong and 10 ft wide and was 4 ft high in brambles down about 20 ft of it, my friend wants a bit of grass for a table a small veg patch and the like so we had to clear 90 % of the brambles, the resulting pile is about 2 cubic yards so she asked the council to collect it as it came from a council propery and she has lived there 2 weeks it shouldnt be her responsability to move it and she was told the council would have to asses the amount and then she would have to pay a minimum of £34 to have it moved and the wait would be about 6 weeks needless to say we wernt impressed, it is all pure green waste and in a big heap ready to go but she is still ecpected to pay and wait, the alternative if 15-20 trips in her fiesta to the tip
so much for council green issues

[Jandra]

In a few weeks the 2 cubic yards of brambles will have been much reduced in volume. For GBP 34 I'd put it in a pile in a not-too-inconvenient spot in the garden and grow squash or pumpkin over it.

Regards, Jandra (the Netherlands)

[Pilsbury]

ahhhh yes this was another problem because they first send round a council officer to asses the "rubbish" then quote a price, if she accepts the price they will be round in 5 of 6 weeks to collect it in which time the summer will be over and the rubbish will be 1/2 the volume and the price quoted will be the same the £34gbp is the mimimun they quote it can get a lot higher