’m not going to suggest you get a chicken or pig to use up the last of your scraps – though anyone with a dog knows that they are useful for the bits left on plates. But I’ll admit it: composting makes me feel good and I’ve only got a basic little bin from a superstore and a postage stamp-sized garden. It’s a fuss-free way to recycle organic waste and it (really) doesn’t smell.

f you follow some simple rules, compost is a magic gift – feeding the plants, improving the soil, controlling weeds and helping to minimise watering. And, yes, it helps reduce landfill. Everyone knows a gardener so, even if you aren’t tempted by hanging baskets or heritage seed catalogues, it’s not going to be hard to find a home for all that rotted vegetable matter. All the uncooked, organic bits that simply can’t be eaten up – the teabags, eggshells, soggy salad and banana skins – can be composted, reducing your household garbage quite substantially. Unlike landfill, well-composted food generates no methane or the nasty, polluting black slime that seeps into rivers and streams.

For a list of what you can and can't compost, and tips on getting the mix right, check out pages 248-251 of The Thrifty Cookbook