The French village of Pince has come up with an innovative way of responding to the European Union directive to divert domestic waste from going into landfills.
It has decided to give a couple of chickens to each [interested] household to keep in their backyard, and to feed them on kitchen waste.
Householders must promise not to eat or sell the chickens for two years, and have also been given instructions on how to look after them. They reckon each chicken will eat 150kg of waste each year.
Other villages in France and Belgium have decided to do the same thing.
This ingenious solution seems to have a certain resonance for Hongkongers, doesn't it?
It scarcely needs to be said that we have a problem with waste disposal, and it is way past time to abandon the ridiculous prohibition on keeping backyard chickens.
There are plenty of people here on Lantau who would leap at the opportunity of having a couple of chooks.