Take a bit more care with your waste and you could stop your rubbish bins from overflowing and help your garden to grow at the same time.

That was the advice today as families in Norfolk were urged to boost their home recycling and create some good garden fertiliser into the bargain.

As part of International Composting Awareness Week, a series of events is being held across the county to urge people to think about the organic matter they currently throw in their dustbin.

And in Norwich, where the controversial introduction of alternate weekly bins collections is looming on the horizon, families are being warned that the rate of household composting will have to increase vital if bins are not be become overfull.

A recent report by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) found that one-third of the food we buy ends up in the bins.

Though half of this is unwanted food which could have been eaten, the rest consists of items such as peelings and teabags, all of which could be composted.

Becky Heath, Norfolk County Council’s master composting co-ordinator, said that home composting is a cost-effective way to recycle uncooked fruit and vegetable waste, which unlike waste going into landfill sites, does not generate significant levels of methane.

She said: “Making compost is a really simple thing that you can do at home to transform kitchen and garden waste into a useful resource.

“We hope the events will provide an opportunity for people to find out more about composting and enjoy a great day out at the same time,” she added.

Bill Webster, ambassador for Norwich in Bloom, is a keen composter and has had compost bins at his home in West Earlham for more than ten years.

He said: “Norwich is really good in this area and even the schools compost.

“Everybody should have two things in their back garden – a compost bin and a water butt.

“The more water and compost we save, the better off we will be. Everything we compost we put back and things grow again.”

As well as the composting events, display boards containing information have been erected at the Forum in Norwich.

Fruit and vegetable peelings, dead flowers, grass cuttings, egg shells, pet hair, coffee granules, the cardboard tube from inside toilet rolls, teabags, the contents of your vaccuum cleaner and even old shredded bank statements and bills are all things which can be added to compost.

Ü For more information on composting events visit www.norfolk.gov.uk/compost or call 0844 800 8004.

Ü Are you doing something amazing to go green? Contact environment reporter Dominic Chessum on 01603 772428 or email dominic.chessum@archant.co.uk