Joan Bakewell: From junk mail to nuclear waste – it's all unwanted

"No Junk Mail", the notice says on my front door. In green letters. It is provided by Camden Council, who are at last making a serious attempt to deal with one of the mounting problems of our time: what to do with all the stuff we produce and no longer want. Yet the junk keeps on coming. Clearly the senders don't recognise their own circulars under such a disparaging heading. Yet almost anything free and unsolicited must count as junk. Two types persist right now. Political leafleting is mounting as local elections approach, and in this ward the Lib Dems are the most prolific. Messages come in print, in pseudo handwriting, again and again. At least they seem to be using recycled paper. Labour has so far made only one strike, an all-singing, all-dancing full colour broadsheet proclaiming their virtuous past and future intentions. A small offering from local Tories slipped in almost unnoticed. I give them all a cursory read as I head for the bin. At least election fodder is brief, short term and might have some relevance to my life and my vote.