we as children were recycling 50 plus years ago,we started at night going around the building sites picking up the pop bottles,stowing them away till the following afternoon and then taking them to graham walkers on the council estate.we also went into the dump and dragged old bikes prams cookers to billy Simpson,there was allways a way of getting a bob or two if you were willing to work at it.i built my first bike from scrap,i learnt how to fix brakes change tyres fix punctures.then i got interested in radio and found out that the valve that had blown in one radio could be found in another radio and fitted it ,power up lights on radio luxembourg here i go.then i found a radio with short wave,got it working with a piece of wire to the outside metal gutter and one to a long piece of copper tube into the ground and i was listening to voice of america broadcasting to troops in germany.the fight of the week was a favourite from america, how different now the grandchildrens toys that cost a fortune at christmas are now getting skipped now,the washing machines seem to last only a few months longer than the guarantee, the estate where i live is littered with big old toshiba TVs s thrown out in favour of the new slimline models,but am i fault ,i used to change the elements in kettles toasters cookers and such but the wife tells me a new kettle in asda is only £9, are things worth fixing? i can t get the idea of things being repaired instead of thrownout out of my mind.but if i could have one wish it would be that there should be a charge of at least a charge of 50% extra on bottled beer,refunded on return even if it only stopped youngsters from smashing them on the pavements of our estate and being a hazard to pets and children