For some things, such as paper and glass, reatively simple. We've had bottle banks since the 1980s and there are very few councils in Britain that won't take away empty bottles and old newspapers in door-to-door recycling collections. But for other things, such as batteries, tin foil, plastic packaging, it's a minefield many people are unwilling to enter. What will the council take? Do you have to wash things first? Isn't it all just flown off to China?
The uncertainty surrounding recycling and its relative merits has hindered the UK's rise up the recycling leagues, despite lots of worthy government pronouncements, advertising and even, in some areas, fines for those who don't recycle. Ten years ago Britain was one of the worst recyclers in Europe, sending over 80% of all household waste to landfill. Today 34% of our waste is recycled. While that's a fair improvement, it is still less than the European average (40%) and some way behind some countries such as Germany, where 64% of all municipal waste is recycled.
Last month the environment secretary, Hilary Benn, outlined bold plans to turn Britain into a zero-waste nation. When we'll achieve that lofty aim was conveniently omitted from his vision, but the government has signed up to a European target of 50% household recycling by 2020.
If achieved, this will ease the burden on Britain's landfill sites, which are already almost filled to capacity. Virtually all the rubbish we don't recycle ends up in these huge holes in the ground that spew out all sorts of nasty greenhouse gases, such as methane, which is 20 times more potent in terms of global warming than CO2.
Increased recycling will also save energy, although some recycled items save more energy than others. Recycling a tonne of aluminium cans, for example, saves around 9 tonnes of CO2, while recycling a tonne of glass saves 0.3 tonnes of CO2. But even this saving is valuable – making a glass bottle from recycled glass rather than virgin materials uses 10% less energy.
Many people will be concerned that around 10% of waste collected for recycling is shipped abroad, principally to China, to be recycled there. However, the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) recently conducted a study into whether the emissions from transporting waste half way around the world outdid the benefits of recycling it and concluded that significant CO2 savings could still be made. With China exporting more than it imports, the savings are increased further when the recycling is sent back on container ships that would otherwise be returning empty to China.
If we're going to reach a 50% recycling target by 2020, or ever get close to being a zero-waste nation, we're going to have to get beyond simply recycling paper and bottles.
To do your bit, the first thing you should do is find out what you can and can't put in your council collection box. This is not the same all over the UK, which can lead to some confusion. You can contact your local council direct, and it should send you a leaflet explaining its recycling policy. If the thought of braving the council's telephone switchboard is off-putting, you can simply enter your postcode on the RecycleNow website and it will tell you what you can put in your green box. Once you have found out, write a list and pin it up somewhere near the bin so you don't forget.
For all those things the council won't collect, your first port of call is the council's local recycling depot. Again, facilities vary markedly from place to place, so ring up first to see what it will recycle. It's also pointless making special trips to the facility in your car just to recycle a few items, as the emissions will offset the benefits of the recycling. Instead, try to store things up and take them all in one go, preferably at a time when you're passing anyway.
Since 2003, recycling in England has saved an estimated 30m tonnes of CO2 emissions. That's the equivalent of taking one-third of our cars off the road for a year. We may be still a long way from Hilary Benn's utopian vision, but things are improving. So next time you eat a yoghurt, don't just chuck the empty pot in the bin, find out how to recycle it, and recycle it.
Home energy tips
Get an energy monitor
Every time you turn off a light a monitor instantly shows you how much energy and money you're saving. According to the Energy Saving Trust, by making you aware of your energy use and pinpointing areas of high usage, monitors can help you reduce your energy consumption by as much as 15%.
Insulation, insulation, insulation
Insulating your roof, walls and pipes, double glazing windows and draft-proofing your property can save you hundreds of pounds a year in energy bills. The most energy-efficient new houses are now so well insulated they don't require any heating.
Save water
Take showers instead of baths – although power showers can be worse. A tap left running can waste over six litres of water a minute, so turn the water off while you're brushing your teeth or shaving. Toilets also use up lots of water – around three litres for every flush. You can reduce this by putting a hippo – a small, brick-like object – in your cistern to displace some of the water.
Cleaning products
There are lots of eco-friendly products available, or alternatively you can save on packaging and money by reverting to some old-fashioned cleaners such as lemon, vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. The Guardian is full of such cleaning tips or, alternatively, ask your granny.
Grow your own
You don't need a huge garden to grow your own veg. A small patch or a few potted tomato plants on a patio or windowsill can give you fresh, homegrown produce, with no transport emissions or wasteful packaging required. If you don't have a garden you could try getting an allotment. Even the Obamas are doing it. AF
For more helpful advice on greening your home visit the Green your home section of the Guardian website guardian.co.uk/environment/series/green-your-home
Wild food forage
It's an unremarkable place for a wild food forage: the entrance to a small park in the quiet seaside town of Sidmouth, Devon. An elderly couple sit on a bench watching as we arrive. In the river a pair of council workers in waders are clearing out fallen leaves.
The word forage suggests we are going to have to search intently for things to eat using Ray Mears-type survival techniques, possibly involving crawling along on our hands and knees for eight hours through thorn bushes. But, it turns out, it's much, much easier than that.
Dave Hamilton, co-author of the Self Sufficient-ish Bible and our teacher for the day, begins by taking a few steps on to a patch of grass beside the path and pointing down at the ground. Here, under our feet are dandelions. You can eat dandelions? Yes. Apparently the root is commonly used in Japanese cooking, mixed with chillies and soy sauce, or it can be used to make dandelion coffee. The leaves, too, can be eaten, although the young spring leaves are best.
"As a general rule," says Dave, "leaves are like people: they get more bitter with age." Foraging is full of old sayings like this to help you remember what to eat and when. Names of plants, too, are pointers to their culinary qualities. Next to the patch of grass is a hedge, where we find a plant called jack-by-the-hedge. The name jack, with its devilish connotations, is usually given to plants with a garlic taste. This one can be eaten raw in salads, while the root can be cooked or used like a horseradish. The seeds can also be used to make a tasty mustard.
Above the jack-by-the-hedge hangs a hawthorn bush. You can eat the berries raw, or dry them. Someone on the course mentions that they've seen a recipe for hawthorn Turkish delight, while Dave recommends chopping up the leaves, which are high in vitamin C, and adding them fresh and raw to a couscous.
Hawthorn couscous, dandelion stir-fry, jack-by-the-hedge salad. It sounds like the menu from some fancy London restaurant, and we're still only 10 yards from the entrance to a rather sedate municipal park.
For two hours it goes on like this. We cover less than 200 metres in total, but every few steps we find something else to eat: sweet chestnuts (Dave recommends sweet chestnut hummus), yarrow, hogweed, sorrel, bay leaves.
Before you head off in search of your local Garden of Eden, however, ready to gorge yourself on its bounty, beware that there are plants out there, even in a humble park, that can kill you. And they don't all come with the bright red berries warning label. The black berries of the bay tree, for example, contain cyanide, while many other plants will leave you feeling a bit queasy or with an inflamed mouth. With this in mind it is a good idea to go on a foraging course first, or at the very least bring a foraging book along with you. If you have doubts about the identity of any plant, don't eat it.
Also, remember that many of these wild foods are sustenance for birds and animals, so don't strip plants bare.
But with a bit of carefully garnered knowledge, a basket and a free morning, it seems even the local park can transform itself into a secret paradise of fresh, organic produce worthy of a gourmet chef. And all for free.
Adharanand booked his foraging course through eatweeds.co.uk, which offers short courses in Devon from just £10. For a more expansive forage, self-styled Wild Man of Food, Fergus Drennan (wildmanwildfood.co.uk), offers full-day courses in Kent with two three-course foraged meals for £115. Alternatively, Dave Hamilton offers pop-up courses around the country (popupforages.com)
