Better than the car
You remember the story that was doing the rounds about the US spending billions producing a pen that would work in space, whilst the Russians solved the problem by using a pencil? (Fortunately, a mere yarn, I’m glad to say:>)
Well, the French are finding ways of solving the pollution/fuel crisis in a similar manner. Use a horse!
According to The Independent on 25th November: “More than 70 French towns have already gone back to the future by introducing horse-drawn carriages to replace petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles for local tasks such as collecting rubbish, street-cleaning and taking children to school. And at least 30 more are set to join the revolution next year.”
The article goes on: “Critics counter that the horse – which produces around 20 kilos of dung daily, enough to fill a suitcase – is hardly pollution-free. They point out that, before the advent of the car, environmentalists were seriously worried that a proliferation of horses would leave cities knee-deep in merde and that
But Stephane de Veyrac of the National Stud was undaunted. ‘It’s about sustainable development and bringing some humanity back to today’s monotonous machine-driven jobs,’ he said.”
The idea of the gee-gees trotting around leaving dung piles everywhere should be extremely exciting for gardeners. Time to get out the buckets and collect the dung for the rhubbarb!
And if anyone says they prefer custard on theirs…