Your local Furniture Re-use Network distribute unwanted furniture and household goods to those in need. Or advertise your old furniture in your local paper or on websites such as Freecycle or Freegle.

Having a clear out? Donate good quality clothing, books and unwanted gifts to charity shops. Alternatively use the clothing banks at your local recycling centre.

Avoid wasting food

Every year in the UK we throw away £12.5 billion worth of good food, costing the average family almost £60 a month.To find out useful tips on the storage of food, tantalising recipes and advice on portioning and meal planning, visit Love Food Hate Waste. Bin’s the word! Make recycling easy,  keep a recycling bag, box, or bin next to your rubbish bin as a reminder for everyone in your house to recycle. Think before you shop and plan how you could reduce your waste. You could buy: Things with less packaging Second-hand items Something that will last longer rather than a disposable item.  Rechargeable batteries can be more cost effective in the long-term than disposables, and they can be used again and again Reusable shopping bags. Keep them in the car boot or pop a folded cotton bag in your handbag or pocket so you always have one to hand. And finally… There has been some concern in the press about plastic recycling being sent overseas. Viridor, the contractor recycling your waste, works with appropriately licensed facilities that adhere to strict environmental procedures. Material is sold with the understanding that it is to become an end-of-waste product. This means it will be reprocessed to produce a plastic pellet or flake and reused in manufacturing as a recyclable material.