The sin bin

Separate your waste or your local council will separate you from up to a grand. That's the lesson from the case of mother-of-three Donna Chalice from Devon. She is accused of committing a heinous crime - putting food waste in the recycling bin - and now faces trial later in the year.

Behind the fluffy talk about everyone getting together to save the planet, there are some good old-fashioned authoritarian measures being rolled out.

Woman in court on recycle charges, BBC News, 22 May 2006

A waste of time, by Rob Lyons