Reduce your waste

Here are 20 simple things you can do to cut down on the amount of rubbish you send to landfill and save money at the same time.

1. Think before you print ­ can you read it on screen instead? If you must print, print double sided or on old paper which has been used once.

2. Avoid disposable batteries ­ use rechargeable ones.

3. Say no to plastic bags. Instead buy a sturdy canvas or cotton one. Better still, why not re-use one of the many plastic bags you’ve already got lurking around the house.

4. Reuse your old envelopes.

5. Recycle your inkjet cartridges with www.greenagenda.com and raise money for Friends of the Earth Scotland.

6. Recycle. Find out more.

7. Set up a compost heap. If you already compost, spread the word and get your neighbours to join in.

8. Buy loose fruit and veg from a local market or grocers and avoid highly packaged supermarket produce.

9. Reuse old clothes as cloths instead of using disposable kitchen roll.10. Stop subscribing to magazines or buying newspapers that you don’t have time to read.

11. Save steel: if each of the UK’s 10 million office workers used one fewer staple a day, it would save 120 tonnes of steel a year.

12. Install a roller towel at work instead of using disposable paper towels.

13. Join the 15% of parents who now use cloth nappies for their babies 

14. Use retread car tyres instead of buying new. Find out how on the Retread Manufacturers Association website.

15. Buy a log maker to turn old newspapers into pulp logs, which will burn for up to an hour each

16. Hire DVDs and videos and get books out of the library rather than buying them.

17. If there’s a service in your area, get your milk delivered in reusable glass bottles.

18. Keep your old letters and wastepaper and make note pads.

19. If you’re having a spring clean, don’t bin your unwanted belongings. Take them to charity shops for reuse.

20. Buy recycled paper and products to keep up the demand for these items.