These days, however, getting rid of the family's waste has become not only time-consuming but fraught with anxiety – arguments over which plastics can go in the blue bin, washing out tin cans, stomping on cardboard boxes, the guilt over landfilling Tetrapak cartons (but not enough to make you give up Innocent smoothies), a mountain of teabags nestling under the kitchen sink ready for the compost bin, and worries about nasty black bin smells in the summer from the dreaded fortnightly collections and the 'bin chip police' (do these really exist or are they merely the fictitious creation of overexcited Daily Mail hacks?).
But all this palaver is not in vain – rubbish has become the latest eco-trend and for some a daily obsession and art form which is in fact paying dividends.
Despite the UK having an unenviable reputation as 'the dustbin of Europe' – landfilling about seven tonnes more rubbish than any other EU country – we are in fact, according to DEFRA, recycling more and more of our waste, and there are actually people out there for whom this seemingly tedious pastime has become something of a personal challenge.
Take the inspirational Karen Cannard from Bury St Edmunds, whose competitive nature metamorphosed into an entire career when she decided to tackle the Suffolk CC Zero Waste Week initiative earlier this year, a nationwide challenge for families to eliminate as much waste as possible from black (landfill) bins and explore recycling options instead.
"After a week, the only thing in my black bin was a single plaster", says Karen, "but it quickly became clear that it's not just about what rubbish we throw away, it's about what we buy in the first place that creates that waste."
Too true, Karen – one of my personal pet hates is the excess packaging supermarkets and manufacturers foist upon us – not just plastic carrier bags but fruit and vegetable packaging usually in great abundance (do baking potatoes REALLY need their own little plastic tray to sit on, covered in yet more plastic – they're spuds, for goodness' sake!), and the frustration of getting into a packet of toothbrush heads (not to mention cuts on your fingers).
The multiples all boast they've cut down on their packaging – the Co-op's cucumbers 'going naked' saved them and the environment a whopping eight tonnes of plastic a year – but don't worry because all the stuff you throw in the blue bin DOES have a purpose – and a future!
Once it's towed away and sorted, by both hand and machine, and cleaned, materials are either recycled in the UK or sold abroad.
It may seem ludicrous to ship tonnes of our waste (paper and plastic, usually) over to China but in fact makes perfect sense – China has little access to forests and oil supplies and is prepared to pay for these valuable commodities (and in fact China itself is becoming increasingly hot on zero waste initiatives, including banning plastic bags).
So when it comes to what we chuck out and where to throw it – the challenge initially is to buy products with as little packaging as possible, as well as choosing packaging which can be recycled rather than landfilled.
The council's waste stream also includes incineration but this must be a last resort due to the pollutive potential, compared with the more lucrative aspect of recycling valuable materials.
While here in Suffolk we don't have a kerbside glass collection, there are several bottle banks around Haverhill and a glass recycling facility at the town's 'dump' (which is, by the way, far too small in my opinion for the town given the rate it's expanding).
But all plastic, paper and cans can go into the blue bin, and as well as vegetable peelings and grass cuttings, the brown bin is a useful receptacle for all sorts of other items including egg shells, toilet rolls, plain cardboard and now even shredded paper.
Despite the current financial climate, homes, hotels and restaurants in the UK throw away an appalling 16 million tonnes of food every year – waste destined for landfill.
Regardless of their sheer size and inconvenience, landfill sites are a source of toxic emissions, pests and unstable ground – so give your rubbish a new lease of life and try to think, what could this be in its next life…?
To start your own zero waste obsession visit www.therubbishdiet.co.uk and www.myzerowaste.com

RUBBISH INFO
Total UK waste is about 29 million tonnes.
Almost 17 million tonnes of this is landfilled (buried).
Only 27 per cent of household waste is recycled or composted.
The food thrown away in the UK every year would meet half the food import needs of Africa where malnutrition runs at 44 per cent.
Apples, bananas and prepacked salads are the most likely food items likely to be chucked out.
47 per cent of total packaging waste is reprocessed the UK, with 53 per cent abroad.
All of the newsprint in the UK is now made from 100 per cent recycled paper.
80 per cent of recycled glass is used in the UK to make new glass bottles & jars.