It's simpler than you think help the environment, and it can be fun for the kids, too. Follow our quick guide

We are being told more and more that we should do our bit for the environment by reducing our waste and taking more rubbish to be recycled. The average household produces a tonne of rubbish every year - that's the equivalent weight of a Ford Fiesta! But for busy families going green can often seem a daunting prospect - how do you juggle the demands of a job, childcare and housework with caring for the environment?

Charlotte Walker is the project manager for www.recycle-more.co.uk, a website that offers practical advice and tips to families who want to do their bit for the environment. She admitted that taking the first steps to being environmentally friendly can often be quite daunting.

'Many people find the prospect of becoming green quite scary,' she admits. 'They think it will take a huge amount of time and effort on their behalf, and this can make them reluctant to take any steps at all.

'The reality is that there are lots of very simple measures that can be taken to reduce the amount of waste that we produce, and once adopted into your lifestyle, you don't even notice you're doing them.'

First steps
Charlotte recommends taking basic steps such as cancelling unwanted newspapers and junk mail through the Mailing Preference Service and avoiding heavily packaged goods when doing the weekly shop. She adds that: 'Even something as simple as reusing your carrier bags when you go to the supermarket can make a huge difference. Figures show that each person in the UK can use as many as 134 bags a year.'

Families with small children could also try a Nappy Laundry Service rather than using disposable nappies - the Real Nappy Association has tips on how to go about this - and sending kids to school with reusable containers for their lunches, rather than plastic wrappings and bags, can also help the environment.

She also recommends teaching children about environmental issues, so they grow up with an awareness of the environment and how to conserve it.

For further information on reducing, reusing and recycling your waste, visit www.recycle-more.co.uk

Plastic bottle puppets
Not everything we throw away is rubbish! There are lots of fun things that can be made by recycling everyday rubbish. This is an activity you and your child can do together.

What you need

• Small clean plastic drinks bottles
• Short wooden sticks
• Plasticine
• PVA glue
• Scrap paper
• Card
• Wool and fabrics
• Scissors
• Elastic bands

What to do

1. Help your child decide on the characters that she would like to make. Has she got a favourite story that she would like to tell using the puppets?
2. Choose your materials - think about what your character looks like to decide which materials you will need.
3. Stick your bottle on to the table with a lump of Plasticine to stop it rolling around while you make your puppet.
4. Make some clothes for your puppet - make a hole in the middle of some fabric, put it around the neck of the bottle and secure it with an elastic band.
5. Add some eyes and nose and mouth and hair, by sticking paper, plastic and wool to the bottle.
6. Push the stick into the neck of the bottle to finish your puppet.
7. Perhaps your child could tell a story using her puppet to her class at school.

Produced as part of Valpak's initiative to help children recycle more © Valpak Ltd 2001