Your good ideas

The winners for January are marked with a lightbulb below.

Gerri Tennant, Kidwelly
Smile at everyone you meet. It's amazing how many conversations it starts and how many people you can help along the way. It makes you happy too!

Nick James, London
Practise free newspaper karma..... Before your board your train for a city commute, never accept a free paper. Hundreds of thousands are printed every day and nearly all end up in landfill. Instead, read the copies that are left on the seats by others! At the end of an evening/night journey, pick up all the discarded copies in your carriage and put them in a recycling bin on your walk or cycle home .

Eng Chong, Walsgrave
Use less water- turn it off whilst brushing your teeth!!

Erica Price, Oldbury
Try to do something a little greener or buy an extra thing fairtrade or volunteer some time for a charity each week,

Mark Finch, Bisley
I make paper bricks out of newspapaer to use on the fire.

Sarah Navarro, Swieqi
To open a shop or somewhere where Maltese citizens and foreigners can donate here in Malta, and to advertise Oxam in Malta. I think that there are quite a few people who will donate. The Maltese are usually very generous. Thank you.

Susan Murray, Gretna
Trade in old PS2 games etc.

Dawn Grant, Wallasey
I enjoy 'giving' yet i cannot afford to donate 'hard cash'. I regularly donate unwanted items to charity shops and also purchase items. Around town, i come across Big Issue sellers and i donate small, in-expensive items such as 'luxury brand' shower gel, razor blades etc because as a person who cannot afford these items myself generally, i appreciate the value of treating myself. I feel The therapeutic effect of ocassional quality products.

Carol Stirmey, kettering
Always take carrier bags with you to reuse or buy bags for life. Also do not throw unwanted items away,donate to oxfam.

Tracey Boyd, Bristol
To teach kids from a young age to be aware of their biological footprint! Make sure that recycling becomes second nature to them, that way in a generation's time, with today's kids born into a recycling culture and environmentally aware mentally, the percentage of waste that is recycled should be significantly higher than the waste that ends up in landfill!

Hazel Rea, Colchester
Everyone is feeling the effects of the credit crunch but something positive you can do every day without it costing you a penny is click on: www.thehungersite.com and www.therainforestsite.com This is a completely free way to have a positive effect on hunger and the environment.

Melanie Cheetham, Stroud
We all buy perfumes we dont like so why not have a swap do at your house and charge a moderate fee for people to take part. provide fairtrade coffee and tea.

Maya Russell, Wokingham
Even if you don't think it's THAT cold, wear a hat. It keeps you warm and you are less likely to get a chill.

Caroline Kay, Cardiff
Many large supermarkets have collection points for plastic carrier bags so that they can be recycled. I have checked with one such supermarket, and plastic film and cellophane from packaging can also be put in. I now collect plastic from food packaging, junk mail etc and take it with me for disposal when I happen to be going near to a supermarket anyway.

Lucy Stearman, Brighton
If you have clothes that are too damaged even for giving away to charity, but have sentimental value, don't let them take up space in your wardrobe. Put them aside and when you've collected a few, make them into a rag rug - a permanent, useful reminder of all the good times you had when you wore those old clothes!

Nancy Townsend, Stevenage
Make the important stuff people and ideas, not "things".

Heather Gutowski, Hereford
Only buy what you need, food, clothes, whatever. What you don't need any longer give to someone who can use it.

Claire Hurley, Coventry
Have 'Swap Shop' sessions with your friends to find good homes for unwanted clothes, beauty products, household items ETC.

Rob Stone, Norwich
Do what I did, get a dog. You wont be indoors using electricity and by the time you come back, your body will be so warmed up by the exercise, you'll realise just how warm it really is in the house, and you wont be tempted to switch on any kind of heating!

Norah Sinclair, Upper Tysoe, Warwickshire
If everyone followed the rule that Mrs Do-as-you-would-be-done-by tells Tom in "The Water Babies" by Charles Kingsley, the world would be a far better place. (By the way, for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, the clue is in her name!)

Hayley Payton, Warrington
Use old boxes and cartons to make your child a shop, your child will love playing shops and saves you having to buy the expensive ones and its great for recycling!!

Helen Phippard, Brighton
Recycle stuff at home as well as the material your council collects - if you've got gerbils and hamsters give them toilet roll insides and eggboxes to chew up into bedding and then compost the waste when you clean them out. If your old clothes aren't good enough for the Oxfam shop or homeless shelter then remove buttons, poppers and zips to reuse and cut the fabric up - store good pieces for patchwork, making doll's clothes or any other sewing projects and use the more worn pieces as dusters. Just think creatively before you throw anything in that waste bin!

Helen Parker-drabble, Swindon
To want only what I need.

Carla Knight, Trecwn
Do not throw anything away which someone else could use. Donate it to Oxfam or put it in a recycling bank. Your old things could mean so much to somebody else.

Glenys McGrath, Rhos On Sea
Be less wasteful = throw less food away and make clothes last longer.

Marie Padgett, Leeds
Don't be tempted into buying things that you don't really need. Not only is it a waste of money- it's also a waste of energy and resources in making the item.Not to mention another plastic bag that it usually comes with.

Anita Holford, Monmouth, South Wales
There's a great website called Junkk.com where you can find out how to reuse things you'd otherwise throw away ... anything from making a lap top protector from tetleys instant tea plastic caps and a bit of pipe insulation, to making chopstick rests from deoderant caps. It certainly makes you think twice before putting something in the bin.

Carol-Anne Smith, Leven
Give what you are going to throw away to others. Its amazing what a difference you can make to the environment and to others.

Linda Arbuckle, Epsom
Plastic bags are brilliant for turning into rag rugs for bathrooms and hall ways. Cheap, bright (Ocado bags are great) and easy to wash. It is also fun for the older kids to get involved. You can then progress to recycling old clothes into cosy rag rugs for around the rest of the home. Also makes great presents.

Maggie Dring, Daventry
Don't be taken in by the hype and advertising telling you to get away to relax and rejuvenate yourself. Stay at home and feel more relaxed.. No arport queues or massive co2 emmissions. Stay at home or stay in this country and have the time of your life.

Fiona Mcbride, Glasgow
Eat Vegetarian diet from local food growers and suppliers Support animal welfare charities.

Maria Hickey, Essex
Instead of buying magazines, most magazines have a website so check this out to catch up on the latest gossip/information!

Karen Kerner, Lauder
Recycle, reuse, reassure. Sort, save, swap. Barter. Give your energy to those too frail to work free of charge.