Recycling Regulation

If laws against murder were abolished today do you think we would witness an increase of homicides? I really don’t think so. I cannot imagine that anyone I know, or whom I have ever met, would suddenly say, “Great! Now I can kill that bloke next door who insists on mowing his lawn ridiculously early every Saturday morning!” That is just not how we are wired. The vast majority of people refrain from murder because it is wrong, not because there is a law stopping them from doing so. If laws were the only thing determining our actions we would see people keeping to 70mph on the motorway and that just doesn’t happen!

Laws act as barriers but what I would argue is that there are already in place natural barriers which act to shape behaviour. For instance, we know that murder is wrong. This knowledge is called conscience. We know that going too fast is dangerous but we also know that at times travelling at 80mph is no more dangerous than travelling at 70mph. This knowledge is called common-sense. These are natural barriers and are apparent in all of us. These two things not only stop us from doing what is wrong but they also help us to do what is right. What is evident, however, is that both conscience and common-sense can be and often are eroded away, even to the point that some people justify murder and others think it is a good idea to drive at ridiculous speeds at inappropriate times and in inappropriate places.

What has any of this to do with recycling? Well, a short but true story may help to explain:

My Wife started working as a secretary in an office about 18 months ago. When she arrived she found that no recycling system had been established. She promptly set about placing a bin under each desk specifically for paper waste. As often as necessary she would empty these bins and at the end of each week would bring the waste-paper home. Some of it was good quality and printed just on one side which we kept and used as scrap. The rest would fit quite happily into our large recycling wheelie-bin which only ever reached a quarter full with our recyclable household waste. Not so long ago my Wife’s office was visited by a no-doubt highly paid government official promoting the local council’s recycling program. He asked who was responsible for the recycling to which my Wife explained that she was. She was told that she was breaking the law and must stop immediately and if the company wanted to recycle they must do it through a registered recycling company.

Environmentalism is a wonderful thing. Whether or not we can slow climate change by decreasing our dependency on carbon is actually irrelevant. We should all be getting involved in ‘saving the planet’ because it is the right thing to do. This is why I was so pleased to see government and NGOs working so hard in this country (and around the world) to promote, encourage and facilitate ‘green’ projects such as recycling. This encouragement is exactly what is needed. It has proven difficult, however, to turn 100% of people on to ideas such as recycling: we don’t have the time because our lives are consumed with work; we are fed misinformation about the importance of recycling (by powerful entities which would no-doubt suffer from a green society) and so on. What I simply cannot understand, given these corrosive, man-made barriers to doing what is right, is why in the world a law would be passed making it even harder to do the right thing! My Wife recognises the moral duty and common-sense of recycling and, acting on the encouragement and facilities provided to her, she did what she knew was right and turned a whole office eco-friendly! Unfortunately, legislation has reared its ugly head and created an unnecessary barrier for people to do the right thing.

We have the capacity to know right from wrong and act accordingly. Unfortunately, the world is full of corrupting elements which encourage us to act contrary to our conscience and common-sense. Legislation may have a place in controlling these forces but where it most certainly has no place is dictating what we should and shouldn’t do. Things which are universally good should be encouraged but not forced. Conversely, things which are bad should be discouraged but trying to force people not to do these things is futile. We have laws against murder yet people still do it. We would find it far more rewarding to focus our efforts on encouraging good and discouraging bad actions rather than trying to solve everything with new laws.

I know this has turned into a bit of an ideological rant but it is important. We should never be discouraged from doing what is right! Please join with me and write to your local authority calling for a de-regulation of recycling practices and any other thing you feel is discouraging us from doing the right thing.

Motorised Mosquitoes

Have you ever been woken by the distinct humming of a mosquito in the middle of the night? At first you try to ignore it but it drifts closer and closer to your face until you can take it no longer. In that moment you will do whatever is required to kill the annoyance. In a similar vein I hope that I am not alone in fantasising about taking a baseball bat to the helmets of moped riders as they pass through my neighbourhood in the early hours of the morning. As I lay there, sleepless from the incessant humming that seems to ring through my head long after the bike has passed on, I imagine myself going to a sports shop and asking for a baseball bat. I specifically do not want a cricket bat as I may be tempted to use that for actually playing cricket. The baseball bat would be solely for the purpose of whacking moped riders in the helmet, in the hope that I might knock some sense into their hollow heads, because why else would one want a baseball bat if not for committing retributive acts of violence?

Luckily for my would-be victims I am a pacifist. That is not to say that I think that their desire to own such an icon of anti-social behaviour is justified. In my sleepless state, once I have put off more violent thoughts, I hear cars drift along the main road and wonder why these adolescent moped riders can't just wait until they are responsible and old enough to own a car! Cars are much safer, more fun, very useful and they are quiet enough to not disturb my slumber as they pass, at much higher speeds than mopeds, along the main road. I live 6 miles from Heathrow Airport and the gigantic jumbo-jets, which fly all through the night, do not disturb me!

As I mentioned earlier, these riders are teenagers. I was a teenager only 4 years ago and I only knew two people who owned mopeds. Yes, moped ownership is a relatively recent phenomenon for the youths of the UK. It now seems that every Tesco car park comes equipped with a gang of moped riders. They are mostly boys but can be seen sharing their cigarettes with girls in bomber jackets wearing big hooped earrings. Now, don't get me wrong, I am all for freedom... but that is exactly why I have an objection. Who decided that a teenager’s right to have a social life that extends beyond the realms of what is healthy is more important than my right to sleep?


When I was a social teenager I would get on my bike and pedal my way to whatever party or gathering was going on. Then when it was over I would ride home again! I probably travelled greater distances then than people do now on their mopeds and I did so in relative silence. This practice has, on reflection, benefited me physically and spiritually. It helped me to get regular exercise and expose myself to moments of self-reflection and meditation. Neither of these are available on the back of a motorised mosquito.

Although I could make all sorts of sweeping statements about the correlations between moped ownership and a plethora of negative social impacts, such as teenage obesity, gang violence, family breakdown and so on (all of which have a degree of credibility) my point is far more simple than that. Youth is a wonderful time when one has a fair amount of disposable income and time. It is also a time when a good night’s sleep is not essential to survival. Just as I would not deprive them of their Reebok Classics, Kappa tracksuits (or whatever ridiculous fashions it is they wear now) and wasted evenings hanging around bus stops, is it really too much to ask to not be deprived of my sleep?

Another disturbed night’s sleep has left me questioning my status as a pacifist. Luckily, once again, for the knights of the motorised mosquito there is a further barrier to me attacking them... I have neither the time nor the money to get to a sports shop and buy my weapon of choice for their punishment.