Actress Jenny Seagrove on her support for the Recycle Now Home Composting Campaign.

The environment is a real passion of mine. Like most people I am concerned about climate change and I am looking for ways I can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

I live in London and often work long hours in the theatre and in television. So many of the people I’ve worked with find themselves in a similar position at some point: trying to juggle between careers and busy home-lives. When there are so many demands on your time even the best intentions can go astray. But by taking just a few minutes a day to recycle things like empty bottles, jars and paper and by composting kitchen and garden waste rather than sending it to landfill, you’ll be amazed at the difference a single household can make. It really hits home when you imagine that in less than 2 hours the UK produces enough waste to fill the Albert Hall!

Even as an avid environmentalist, I was surprised to hear that up to a staggering one third of an average household’s waste is made up of organic waste that can be composted at home. Once you’re in the habit of dividing your food waste between the compost bin and a general household waste bin it’s easy to see how much can be home composted – and at the end of the process you’ll also be rewarded with a rich natural fertiliser which can be used in the garden, or for any pot plants around the house. I have my own 220 litre compost bin which is the perfect size for the small outdoor space I have here. There’s a whole range of discounted compost bins available via the Recycle Now website so you can see what’s available in your area and choose the right bin to suit you.

As well as unused fruit and vegetables I add coffee grounds, tea bags, shredded paper, cereal boxes and even the contents of my vacuum cleaner to the mix. It’s important to combine these ‘brown’ items with the traditional ‘greens’ such as grass cuttings and leaves in order to create the right environment for the microorganisms to naturally produce Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorus, which will keep the soil in a healthy, balanced condition. This process takes between six and twelve months and in the end you get a great free fertiliser which can be used in all manner of ways in the garden. Even if, like me, you only have a small outdoor space you can use your homemade compost for herb pots, indoor plants and window boxes. Be careful though – homemade compost is very rich in nutrients and needs to be mixed with sharp sand and soil for planting.

At the end of 2007 the United Nations Climate Change Conference took place in Bali, bringing together representatives from 180 countries to discuss the future of our planet. Action at that level is obviously important, but at the end of the day the decisions we take as individuals at work and in our own homes and gardens – the way we lead our lives - will be a big part of the solution.

One obvious reason for diverting waste from landfill is to limit the corruption of otherwise fertile, and rapidly decreasing land. However, people are often unaware that another side effect of sending rubbish to landfill is the production of methane, a powerful green house gas, which occurs when organic waste is trapped under other waste and deprived of oxygen. By composting at home we remove the need to transport excess waste to landfill, help to conserve the land, limit the production of greenhouse gases and create our own organic fertiliser for free.

I would recommend getting hold of a recycling bin to sit alongside your general waste bin in your kitchen and a composting caddy - that way it will become second nature to consider where your different household wastes are going. You can buy compost caddies from Recycle Now or just use an old ice cream tub or similar. This can be kept on your kitchen surface to temporarily store peelings and other organic kitchen waste before you take it out to the compost bin, saving you trips down the garden path. Caddies can even be lined with biodegradable starch liners, which go straight into the compost bin and will decompose along with the rest of the waste.

Recycle Now works with local authorities across the country to offer residents discounted compost bins - for more information, hints and tips and to find out what compost bins are available in your area, log onto www.recyclenow.com/compost or call 0845 600 0323.

Jenny rose to fame playing the lead in ‘A Woman of Substance’ and is well known for her ongoing role as Jo Mills in ‘Judge John Deed’. She is a familiar face on television and recently starred in the West End production of Alan Ayckbourn’s ‘Absurd Person Singular’. Jenny also devotes her energies to environmental causes, animal rights and organic cooking.