Their “Choose Charity Shops” campaign will not only add to the millions raised each year for good causes, but also save resources and energy while diverting items away from costly landfill, which will save money for council taxpayers.

A host of charities, large and small, national and local, are set to join in Choose Charity Shops, including the British Heart Foundation, British Red Cross, Cancer Research UK, Marie Curie Cancer Care, Oxfam, Shelter, Sue Ryder and YMCA.

They are asking the public to donate unwanted items of good quality in working order directly to their chosen charity shop this week, and pledge to continue donating to charity shops for the coming year.

Bucking the high street trend, charity shops nationally have seen their income rise 3.6% in the past year to almost £1billion annually, and nearly one million more customers have come through their doors since last summer in response to the recession, according to a survey.

Charities are struggling to meet that rising demand, and keen to attract gifts nice enough to be sold, so – except for old or worn clothes and textiles that still have some value – the items should be clean, unbroken and complete.

To avoid rewarding a thief who will leave a mess that must cleared up by someone else, do not leave items outside closed charity shops.

For larger items, unusual pieces or electrical goods, a call ahead to the shop to see if they have space or have an expert who checks for safety, could save time and effort.

For most household goods and appliances, including larger items and kitchen equipment, even bicycles and rugs, the furniture reuse charities throughout Somerset offer an alternative and may even collect for free.

For reuse or recycling, clothes and shoes are among the 10 materials taken in the weekly kerbside Sort It Plus collections. Together with textiles and bric-a-brac, clothes and shoes can be also taken to recycling sites for reuse or recycling.

For more on reuse, check here, and search by town or postcode to find charity shop addresses and phone numbers at the Choose Charity Shops campaign site.

Front page image: Oxfam.

Among the materials taken at every recycling site is garden waste, including:

• Flowers, plants and garden weeds
• Grass cuttings, leaves and hedge trimmings
• Small branches (less than 10cm or 4 inches width; larger branches should be placed in the “natural wood” skip)
• Straw or sawdust (if bedding material, then only from vegetarian pets)

These items should not be included in garden waste: plastic bags, flower pots, plant labels, kitchen food waste, stones, rubble, soil, large branches or logs, or the weeds Japanese Knotweed and Common Ragwort.

Each recycling site is open 40 hours a week across five days, with weekday opening staggered to always offer residents an alternative.

All sites are free to enter, except for four sites that have £2 entry fees to help prevent their closure: Coleford, Crewkerne, Dulverton and Middlezoy.

It is free to deposit household waste. All sites accept 30 materials for recycling, including batteries and cans, paper and wood, cooking oil and electrical appliances. Some recycling sites take additional materials, such as beverage cartons, books, window glass and plasterboard.

Only four materials not defined as household waste – hardcore, soil, tyres and gas bottles – attract charges at recycling sites, starting at £2.90.

To maximise recycling and limit congestion, recycling site visitors are advised to pre-sort their materials. And residents are asked to check in advance if they have hazardous items or materials, such as asbestos, that will require special handling or protective wrapping.

If you would prefer to have your garden waste collected at your kerbside every fortnight in either a wheeled bin or paper sacks, contact your district council customer services to arrange a paid-for garden waste collection.

All of Somerset’s garden waste from kerbside collections and recycling sites is shredded and composted in long rows, called windrows, which are kept at correct levels of warmth and moisture for weeks to create the Revive soil conditioner sold at every recycling site. Screens remove any remaining large woody bits, which are used to help turn food waste into agriculture fertilizer.

Garden waste can be home composted, which is the best option with most environmental benefits. It should not be put out with rubbish for refuse collections, as it will then be dumped in costly landfill and give off greenhouse gases.

Check out the story and video here.

Among the items taken at every site is waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), from broken televisions and computers to damaged white goods and other household appliances.

Somerset’s end use register records that in 2010-11, around 900 tonnes of fridges and more than 4,000 tonnes of other WEEE were sent on for processing and recycling – including the extraction of any CFC gases – in either South Wales or on Merseyside.

If your electrical or electronic item is unbroken, do first consider finding a reuse for it, as a donation to a charity shop (check first they can take electrical items) or one of Somerset’s reuse groups, or by giving it away or selling it, such as on Freecycle or Freegle, through your local newspaper classified adverts, or on eBay or another sales site.

If that is not possible, each recycling site is open 40 hours a week across five days, with weekday opening staggered to always offer residents an alternative.

All recycling sites are open every Saturday 8am-4pm, every Sunday 8am-1pm and every Monday 8am-7pm.

Half of the recycling sites are open 8am-4pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (closed Thursdays and Fridays); half are open 8am-4pm Thursdays and Fridays (closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays).

All sites are free to enter, except for four sites that have £2 entry fees to help prevent their closure: Coleford, Crewkerne, Dulverton and Middlezoy.

It is free to deposit household waste. All sites accept around 30 materials for recycling, including batteries and cans, paper and wood, cooking oil and garden waste.

Some recycling sites take additional materials, such as beverage cartons, books, window glass and plasterboard.

Only four materials not recognised as household waste – hardcore, soil, tyres and gas bottles – attract charges at recycling sites, starting at £2.90.

To maximise recycling and limit congestion, recycling site visitors are advised to pre-sort their materials.

And residents are asked to check in advance if they have hazardous items or materials, such as asbestos, that will require special handling or protective wrapping.

Each recycling site is open 40 hours a week across five days, with weekday opening staggered to always offer residents an alternative.

All recycling sites are open every Saturday 8am-4pm, every Sunday 8am-1pm and every Monday 8am-7pm.

Half of the recycling sites are open 8am-4pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (closed Thursdays and Fridays); half are open 8am-4pm Thursdays and Fridays (closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays).

All sites are free to enter, except for four sites that have £2 entry fees to help prevent their closure: Coleford, Crewkerne, Dulverton and Middlezoy.

It is free to deposit household waste. All sites accept 30 materials for recycling, including batteries and cans, paper and wood, cooking oil and electrical appliances. Some recycling sites take additional materials, such as beverage cartons, books, window glass and plasterboard.

Only four materials not recognised as household waste – hardcore, soil, tyres and gas bottles – attract charges at recycling sites, starting at £2.90.To maximise recycling and limit congestion, recycling site visitors are advised to pre-sort their materials.

And residents are asked to check in advance if they have hazardous items or materials, such as asbestos, that will require special handling or protective wrapping.

As always, the advice during bad weather is to leave refuse and recycling on the edge of your property by 7am (collection times can vary) and no earlier than the night before.

Collections normally continue until 4pm. If put out correctly and your waste has been missed, contact your district council customer services to arrange a return collection, which are normally made within two working days.

To avoid problems with bad weather, please take care when putting materials and rubbish out for collection.

In particular, clothes should be placed in bags (not black sacks) – try to avoid putting them out on wet days – while shoes should be tied in pairs and bagged.

On very windy days, loose materials should be weighed down and, if possible, containers put in a sheltered spot where they can still be easily seen and at the edge of your property.

To mark Real Nappy Week 16-22 April, Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) is writing to 750 expectant mothers about the cost saving and pollution preventing merits of washable “real” nappies.

“Real” nappies are becoming a popular alternative as they are £500 cheaper than disposables per child, according to the national Go Real campaign.

For each child, real nappies stop up to 800kgs of waste – a county-wide total of almost 4,500 tonnes a year – being buried in Somerset landfill, where the nappies, and their contents, decay to create powerful greenhouse gases that damage the climate.

SWP is launching a free comprehensive information leaflet (pdf, 1.3 MB) that points out how today’s real nappies look and fit like disposables – forget Terry squares, safety pins and boiling – and can be popped into the washing machine for a simple 40 or 60 degree cycle.

And the letter to mums-to-be invites them to complete an online survey to help SWP better understand their nappy needs and problems.

SWP strategy officer Beth Prince said: “Nappies are a big cost for any family, so making the right choice is crucial.

“Between the cost to your pocket and damage to the planet, disposables are a bum deal. Between making savings of £500 and doing your bit to make a better world for your child, real nappies make a real difference.”

To help families consider their nappy choices, mum-and-baby groups can borrow a table top information display by contacting SWP and get a free event support pack from the Go Real campaign.

Check here for more information on nappies.

If so, please make sure your 2012-13 magenta sticker is firmly attached to the garden waste bin and can be easily seen.

Garden waste bins without a sticker for the paid-for subscription can expect to be left unemptied and “tagged” by collection crews with an advice note to explain why.

Your garden waste can be taken to any of the county’s recycling sites, but at less than £1 a week, the fortnightly kerbside pick-ups save people time, money, fuel and the risk of mess in their car.

By booking with their district council, gardeners can start a subscription at any time that will run to March 2013, though it will be at the full-year price. Subscribers can choose either a wheeled bin for their garden waste or sets of paper sacks.

Anyone interested in a garden waste collection or with a query, such as stickers not yet delivered for subscriptions already paid, should contact their district council customer services.

There are some clear do’s and don’ts for garden waste collections.

The following garden waste can be recycled in the kerbside collection:

• Flowers, plants and garden weeds
• Grass cuttings, leaves and hedge trimmings
• Small branches (less than 10cm or 4 inches width)
• Straw or sawdust (if bedding material, then only from vegetarian pets)

These items should not be put out with garden waste: plastic bags, flower pots, plant labels, kitchen food waste, stones, rubble, soil, large branches or logs, Japanese Knotweed or Common Ragwort.

Garden waste can also be home composted, which is the best option with most environmental benefits, or taken to a recycling site for composting. It should not be put out with rubbish for refuse collections, as it will then be dumped in costly landfill and give off greenhouse gases.

All of Somerset’s garden waste is shredded, piled into large “windrows”, and kept at correct levels of warmth and moisture for weeks to create the Revive soil conditioner sold at every recycling site, while any remaining woody bits are used to help turn food waste into agriculture fertilizer.

Low temperatures have been forecast overnight until Friday morning, with the risk of ice on some roads.

All containers for collections should be placed out on their regular day by 7am, and if your collection is missed, please be patient; crews will try to return once conditions improve.

In the event of severe weather, guidance and updates will be posted on this website. Updates will also be provided on Facebook and Twitter, and to local radio and district council customer services.