The UK has a colossal national wastage but as Recycle Now - the organisation that encourages us to think before we bin - is keen to stress, this could easily be reduced: 'Whether it's vegetable peelings, coffee jars, shampoo bottles or food waste, there are lots of items we can recycle.' In fact nearly two-thirds of all household rubbish can be recycled which would save energy and raw materials and avoid waste going to landfill.
Most councils run kerbside collections for paper, glass, plastics and cardboard. Civic amenity sites (your local tip) can also accept many other materials for recycling. 'If you're not sure what your council offers, go to their website and tap in your postcode to see what, when and where you can recycle in your area,' says Recycle Now.
Of course while recycling can help save materials and energy, cutting down on waste in the first place is even better. That's why the big supermarkets are working with the government and manufacturers to strip away the layers of unnecessary packaging. They're doing an aisle-by-aisle, product-by-product review of their ranges. And it's working. In 2008, one supermarket in particular cut own-label food packaging by 25 per cent, removing 47,000 tonnes of excess packaging. 'In 2009, they've committed to reduce this by a further five per cent'. Good news for the environment and our purses - this mega retailer is reinvesting the