Act: reduce, reuse, repair

Ask anybody who claims they're green and they'll say they recycle. But the issues surrounding waste aren't that simple, what with overpackaging, repairs dearer than replacement, fashions, fads and advertising, two-for-one deals and sell-by dates, the cost of waste disposal and recycling on council tax bills, and burgeoning landfills.

The "hierarchy of waste" is reduce, reuse, repair, recycle, reclaim energy, then rubbish. Reducing consumption is politically unpopular in a capitalist, growth-driven economy, but some of us have the strength to say "no" to wants and stick to "needs", however these are defined.

It's creative to reuse and repair, and very satisfying. So to recycling. My favourite is home composting no transport needed and up to 60% of the dustbin easily and naturally converted into soil-improver.

Compostables are really worth recycling as they are responsible for most of the landfill gas and polluting juices. Recycling other materials - glass, metals, paper, some plastics, drinks cartons, textiles and clothes, tyres, electronic equipment - uses transport and energy, but is still more ethical than incineration and landfill.

Councils have a duty to collect rubbish and will soon face fines if they don't recycle enough. Many promote home composting with cheap bins.

Clean separated recyclables from kerbside boxes and bring banks generate the highest prices, but some recyclables are collected "co-mingled" in one sack, which then need sorting and often receive a lower price because of contamination.

In a world with finite resources and landfill space, too much energy being used and high levels of carbon in the atmosphere, we have a duty to reduce the amount of waste we are creating. I don't favour incineration as the materials are lost not recycled, and much of it is in fact "fossil fuel" and emits unwanted CO2 as well as a risk of dioxin pollution.

So, try not to buy what you don't need and recycle what you can and you'll be helping to build a more sustainable society.