DO you recycle in your household?

If you don’t, perhaps you will, if new Government plans to give an incentive to going green are rolled out in Crow Country.

The scheme piloted by Windsor and Maidenhead Council, involves households receiving points for the amount they recycle. These can then be spent at local shops or businesses, or donated to schools.

Cllr Liam Maxwell told the BBC: “Paying the public to recycle works. It increases recycling rates, reduces our environmental impact, reduces Council Tax, and helps local businesses.

“The results of our trial with 6,000 homes far exceeded our expectations.”

For me this is a nice sounding idea, but if it were introduced across the country I doubt it would make a significant difference to the amount of waste that is recycled.

The people who take advantage of it are likely to be those who would recycle anyway – I don’t think those who can’t be bothered to sort out their rubbish at the moment will have their stance changed by the promise of a few vouchers.

And should we really be giving incentives for something that we ought to be doing anyway?

It seems a bit backwards to me, like giving drivers rewards if they stick to the speed limit.

This announcement comes at the same time as a “bin tax”, which had previously been proposed to discourage people from chucking too much stuff away, was shelved.

Now I don’t particularly agree with this either - we already pay a bin tax, it’s called Council Tax.

But it seems to me that the best way to get people recycling is to offer deterrents to the alternatives.

Anything which hits folk in the pocket is likely to make more of an impact than 10 per cent off your bill at a local restaurant.

I’ll wait to be proved wrong, but it seems to me this recycling rewards scheme is a load of rubbish.

AFTER weeks of hype, it’s nearly here.

The World Cup kicks off in South Africa on Friday, and excitement here at Crow Towers has reached fever pitch. Well, for me anyway. The tournament should be brilliant and I can’t wait for it to get started.

But one thing we won’t be doing is erecting a massive St George’s flag outside the office.

Not that people flying their flags particularly offends me, but I do find it a little bit naff and more than a little bit pointless. In the past I’ve been abroad when World Cups or European Championships have kicked off, and none of the other countries have felt the need for such overt displays of patriotism. I don’t really understand what possesses people to deck their homes or vehicles out in red and white - is it supposed to prove who is the most English?

But as someone who lives in a half English, half French house, perhaps it’s not a surprise that I don’t understand this phenomenon.

Maybe we’ll fly the tricolour just to stand out from the crowd!