Q&A: Get recycling

What do worms, charity shops and your local council have in common? They can all help with your recycling!

I’ve learnt about recycling at school and want to do more at home. Where should I start?

Well, take a good look at your bin and you’ll soon see it needs to be slimmed down!

First off, you probably have a doorstep recycling programme that collects paper, glass and cans. Some councils even collect kitchen leftovers and garden waste, too. So find out what can be recycled in your area, and then get to work!  See what your local council recycles at recyclenow.com.

If you have a garden, get a compost bin and use it to collect all raw vegetable waste from the kitchen (vegetable peelings, apple cores, used tea bags etc). You can then put this on a compost heap to make free garden compost. You can find composters at Tesco direct.

If you don’t mind the odd wiggly worm, why not make a wormery? This is a container full of worms – you can feed them your kitchen scraps and watch as they turn it into lovely rich compost and liquid fertiliser that plants love. See how to make a wormery here.

My family has just got new toothbrushes. I want to keep the old ones, but I’m not sure what I can do with them.

Well done! Old toothbrushes are perfect for cleaning. Use them for cleaning jewellery, hamster cages, muddy sports shoes or dusty keyboards – in fact anywhere with little nooks and crannies that are hard to get into.

In the future, why not buy eco toothbrushes such as those sold at Spirit of Nature? These have replaceable heads so you don’t have to throw away the whole brush after using it.

My mum and I have had a big clear out of my old clothes and now we're left with lots of spare hangers. What can we do with them?

Good question. Why not try your local charity shop? Most of them accept hangers that are in good condition.

Alternatively, if you’ve got a baby brother or sister, two hangers tied together make the perfect base for a mobile.