grandkids get a fair bit of pocket money after their saved bottles and cartons have been put through the return and earn
Ah, cartons too - good idea. Although the recycling machines here aren't good enough yet to separate the layers well. They're working on machines that can separate
everything, but as yet they're far too expensive.
Here poorer people that can't work go round our towns collecting, so kids do earn a bit too, but we encourage them to give the bottles to them, or at least leave the bottles next to the bins, so they don't have to rummage as much.
Most people here do want to do something for our world and thus the next generations.
Garden:
After my wife has helped identify most of the plants I couldn't, I yesterday completed my digital list of all plants in our garden, in 8 groups, clockwise. Then started researching what needs to get done, esp. cut when.
So February is the month here to cut back certain types of hydrangea (done that carefully already) and to cut back shrubs etc.: from March to September we have a law (since 2010) to not cut them back much to protect animals. Excellent to know, cos people like my wife were telling me in January that the garden needs to hibernate and not to do anything, and I was saying: no, I'm sure there's firstly a lot to prepare and secondly a few things like removing fungal leaves which won't harm evergreens like ivy despite any frost.
There won't be any frost the next 2 weeks, so ideal to do some cutting back and pruning.
There's a lot of quite good stuff in our garden, fairly natural, but also lots to improve because since a neighbour died, her husband didn't do much, and doesn't know anything much about gardening.
My first big decision was not to fight against the moss like my neighbours did, but to turn it into a "moss lawn", which is actually beautiful, and means not using the lawn mower anymore. I might put our army of two guinea pigs on the few stalks left, but it's probably ineffective, so I may just use a pair of scissors . It's so funny when everyone is so keen on lawns to do it differently, but it reminds me of "The Secret Garden", so that's the direction I may try to tend to a bit, makes it fibro-compatible to let things go in controlled wildness. But I've been going round closing any ripped up moss again and getting new sorts from other places, within and without the garden, see how they'll do.
The second one was to use all leaves as mulch - I'd always wondered why my neighbour threw it into the organic waste bin instead of using it. I recycle more and more, keep and dry all my wife's daily coffee and banana skins, have sussed out the plants I can dung with that. I may start up some compost, but am wary of it being too much work at the moment, probably wrong, and there is an old plastic composter that's standing around useless.
Yesterday it dawned upon me and I confirmed it in the web that the beautiful fungi (trametes versicolor) on the trunk of our big old lilac tree means it is full of it and won't be able to continue long like that. Knowing my wife hates too much change I asked her to decide if/how she wants me to save it. Knowing her and that I'll probably leave it to die beautifully and gracefully and try to plan new ones (- but where?)
The tiny snowdrops are fully out now, and I'm not sure if it's daffodils or tulips on the verge of producing blossoms.
.
so I have my grandkids helping their parents put rubbish in the right bins. 
, the more croaking I hear the better.
One group caught me unawares again, jumped on me.
might tell people 
I need them to shut up? 
(15' talking, moving target), without undertaxing myself....
❤