Lark Rise to Candleford was my favourite program on the BBC. It depicted a peaceful way of life, similar to my memories of my own childhood, living on a farm in the country. I studied the first book in the trilogy, ‘Lark Rise’, written by Flora Thompson, for my GCE O level, and the only saying in it that has ever stayed in my mind is ‘Waste not, want not, some maxim I would teach’. I have always tried to live to this adage. I hate waste, of any kind. Ask my family, especially the grandchildren. They treat it as somewhat of a joke. “Am I allowed to throw this away?” they ask, before putting the smallest thing into the pedal bin. Besides the usual doorstep recycling, practically everything that isn’t used, or usable, gets reprocessed. Stamps, milk bottles tops, even the fat from the grill is mixed with seeds and put out for the birds. All that our dustbin contains is wrappers, and plastic food containers. If it wasn’t for them we wouldn’t need a dustbin. Do we really need all that packaging? It must put up the cost of everything that we buy. It is such a waste, and I, for one, do not want it. Flora Thompson, I raise my hat to you. Oh, sorry, I can’t, it’s gone to the charity shop.