Titbits- Trash talk and historic horticulture

■ At a recent full council meeting the Town Hall unanimously voted to cut back on waste in all areas of the borough’s concern apart from one: time. Was a motion really necessary to propose tackling recycling… by providing more recycling bags? The Lib Dems, who thought up this radical and progressive way of improving the borough’s stagnant recycling rates, clearly had one eye on the headlines when they called for a “wider roll- out” of green bags. We will now see them dispensed in housing offices and libraries around Hackney.

■ More primitive forms of grass- cutting were introduced on Walthamstow Marshes by advocates of biodiversity. The Lea Valley Regional Park Authority teamed up with scythe-wielding volunteers to mark Lammas Day (traditionally the last day in summer on which grass is cut for hay). Scythes are an alternative to the tractor that inhibits the flourishing of various flora and fauna, they also remind us of our “social history”. The Authority has also introduced a herd of cows to help with the work.