As well as raising vital funds for charities, here are another five reasons we do what we do.

Reusing unwanted products and using recycled materials to make new products reduces the need to source raw materials, which often involves cutting down trees and mining the earth worldwide. This destroys our natural environment and wildlife habitats, causing environmental and health problems for local people.

Enormous amounts of energy are required to make products and materials worldwide. By recycling items such as paper, glass, plastics and cans, we can use less energy than when we make these products from raw materials.

Most of the UK's waste currently ends up in landfill sites, but the space required to bury our waste in the ground is running out. Many items do not decompose, but even an old woollen jumper produces methane and contributes to global warming.

Recycling is an increasingly important part of our country's economy and creates jobs for people in the UK and overseas.

Each local authority in the UK has a target to meet set by the government to ensure that more of our waste is being reduced, reused and recycled. The national target set in The Waste Strategy 2000, is to ensure that at least 30% of our household waste is either recycled or composted by 2010. By achieving these targets, local authorities will not have to pay fines and increase landfill taxes.