Moving on from that, she found that the more she shops locally from small producers, the more open they are to her requests to bring and use her own packaging.

For example, her local butcher agrees to put the meat in the boxes she brings in, rather than wasting non-recyclable plastic trays. She has a local grocer who allows her to do the same with cheese. And she buys her fruit and vegetables from a local organic farm shop, where she can use paper bags or reuse her own.
All of this makes a massive contribution.

But she said the biggest challenge is the things you simply don't think about, such as broken CD cases and other seemingly random items that can't be repaired.

Convenience is what fills up your bin.

Rachelle is pragmatic and practical in her approach and, whilst passionate about inspiring others to reduce the amount they send to landfill, she openly admits that convenience is what fills up your bin.

"Sometimes," she says, "when you just don't feel like cooking and get that take away, you end up with plastic pots that have to go to landfill."

She hopes that her Zero Waste Week in September will serve to inspire others to join in, sowing the seeds that we can all do a bit more, by shopping more consciously.

"I see our zero waste week as a beginning, not an end. It's the beginning of a new level of awareness. Until life changes and we're all living off nothing but local produce with no packaging, we will still produce rubbish, but our aim is to keep our bin bag below 150g per week. We will have to be satisfied with that."

One of the valid questions that Rachelle poses is whether what is collected by our councils is really being recycled or incinerated in a far-flung land. She is actively working with her county council in Gloucestershire as an ambassador for recycling and they have been inspired to launch a county-wide zero waste week challenge early in 2009! Rachelle would love us all to be getting in touch with our councils and MPs to help spread this initiative.

"There is so much mixed information out there, particularly as different districts within even a single county have different recycling policies. We need clarity of information to stop the confusion and allow people to have a go."

If you'd like to step up to the challenge and get involved with Zero Waste Week in September, make sure you tell Rachelle about how you're getting on via her My Zero Waste website. She's got lots of eco companies involved to offer prizes to those who really make the effort!

And a final thought: Rachelle was spurred into action by reading one MP's comments that "It is our birthright to have a rubbish collection". Hmmm. What are your thoughts?