Comment: It's so simple to make a difference

PAM DOODES, of Wealden District Council, explains why her rules - reducing, reusing and recycling - should be implemented by everyone.

I've had a growing interest in green issues for ten years because it's become clearer just how important recycling is.

Before I became leader of Wealden District Council, I was cabinet member for health and public safety, which meant I was responsible for the collection of rubbish I saw just how much waste we all produce.

My husband has always been a keen recycler but as my knowledge of the issue grew, I realised we all have a responsibility to reduce our waste as much as possible.

I'm not an in-your-face green lobbyist, I just know that with a little thought and careful planning you can easily get into a routine where reusing and recycling becomes a part of life.

The mantra is "reduce, reuse and recycle". If you follow that, you can't go far wrong.

Reducing the amount of waste isn't difficult. The most important thing I do is buy no more food than I need each week.

More than a third of the food bought in this country is thrown away, which is an unimaginable amount of waste.

If I just buy what I need, I not only cut my waste by a third, I spend less on my food bill.

Cutting the cost of a weekly shop by a third adds up to an amazing saving over a year.

I'm also careful to buy fresh fruit and vegetables rather than the ready-prepared sort, and I leave any extra packaging at the supermarket checkout.

I've been doing that for a while now. I used to get a few funny looks but now people seem to accept it.

Individual consumers might not have much clout with the big manufacturing firms but the supermarkets do. If you make getting rid of the extra packaging the supermarkets' problem things will quickly change.

Retailers listen to their customers, so once they realise shoppers care about matters like excess packaging they'll start to act.

I've also stopped receiving junk mail since I registered with the Mailing Preference Service (www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr).

If you return the junk mail to sender it's still wasted paper and it's much better if it never gets sent.

I don't use plastic carrier bags and support a total ban. Even the biodegradable ones aren't that good for the environment.

Many contain only ten per cent starch and although they degrade, the starch just breaks the plastic into small pieces, so you still have plastic residue.

There's no approved standard definition of a "biodegradable bag"

either, so you have no idea what you're getting. It's much better just not to use them.

I'm also really in favour of terry napkins instead of using plastic disposable nappies.

I don't have grandchildren yet but if I do I'll certainly be on hand to help with the washing.

When it comes to reusing and recycling you don't have to be particularly ingenious. We just do simple things like reusing the blank side of a piece of paper for any printing we need to do.

My husband Peter uses shredded paper to make briquettes for our open fire. Admittedly, that's rather time-consuming but it means we have a lovely warm room and, as we have a back boiler, hot water too.

We also turn our kitchen waste into compost. I know this can be difficult if you live in a flat but there are already some schemes providing community composting facilities and this needs to happen more often.

There's no kerbside collection from my house because we live in a rural area of Wealden but it isn't much bother to collect tins and glass before taking them to the recycling site.

I also make sure I repair things where possible. There's a man in Bexhill who mends my shoes but it's much easier if you buy one pair of good shoes and then have them mended, and I think many more people are doing that.

We have a responsibility not to waste things so we can provide a healthy environment for future generations.

If I'm not sure whether something can be recycled or not I use the Wealden recycling directory.

It's available from the Wealden Council website (www.wealden.

gov.uk) and lists everything from garden chemicals to DVDs to batteries, and lets you know if and where they can be recycled.

If you spend a little time thinking and planning ahead, before long following the three Rs becomes second nature, and you don't have to worry about it - and you know you're doing your bit for the environment.

Do you already follow the three Rs, or do you now plan to?