Robbo's pledge: "For this week, I will do everything in my power to be a model citizen with my rubbish. I will recycle everything I can possibly recycle and will make every effort to minimise my impact on the environment as I honour this pledge."

At the end of my week-long challenge to "watch my waste" I had four Tupperware containers of food waste, a carrier bag with 25-30 tea bags and a plastic container with eggshells in – all of which I previously would have thrown in my general waste.

Now, they can go in my new composter (apart from the carrier bag and containers, obviously).

The remaining waste I could not recycle – including bottle tops, tin foil, and crisp packets – fits inside two normal carrier bags and weighs just 1.1kg (2.5lbs).

That is everything that me and my girlfriend Jen and our dog Bailey created over a full week – including a weekend and a clear-out of the car.

According to the latest statistics available from Defra, in the year 2008/09 the average person in the UK produced about 290kg (639lb) of waste that was not reused, recycled or composted. This is about 5.6kg (12lbs) a week.

So by trying to reduce what we threw away and composting food that we would normally have put in the general waste we have thrown away 80% less than the average person.

Of course, there is no such thing as the average person and some weeks we all have much more to throw away than in others.

But even so, it at least shows that I have had a big impact by thinking about my waste differently and changing my behaviour slightly.

When I started this challenge I had the suspicion that I would still have lots of waste left over. But with a little effort I proved myself wrong.

I would recommend to anyone giving it a try for just a week. It really helps you see things in a new light.

The waste I have managed to recycle includes paper, card, tins, cans and plastic – all of which are collected at the kerbside. My local council also collects batteries.

When I have glass to recycle I take it to the recycling bank at my local supermarket. This is not a major effort but it would be nice if the council made it easier by collecting it at the kerbside.