THERE are more fir trees in the back alleys around our house than in a forest. While we behaved in a very environmentally-friendly manner and took our Christmas tree to the tip, many people seem to think nothing of chucking them out for the bin men - who, of course, don't take them.

They won't take anything classed as "garden waste", which is why, in autumn, I can be found stuffing leaves and dead pot plants into empty cornflakes boxes.

It's the time of year when the need to recycle is constantly rammed home to us. What to do with all those Christmas cards? And what about those scraggy bits of tinsel that won't make the grade next year? And those sad-looking sprigs of holly?

The answers lie in a multitude of glossy magazines and newspaper articles exploring endless possibilities which the average person with family, home and job to think about would scoff at.

Activities such as using left-over wrapping paper to line drawers, cutting up cards to use next year as book marks, or using sprigs of holly as a template (that's a word which, as a non-creative mother, I'm completely allergic to) for stencil designs.

What sort of person has time for stuff like this? I have barely had a moment to cobble together an Obviously-Done-In-A-Rush set of thank-you cards from the children to their various relations, let alone make a set of rush-matting-effect coasters from the little brown strips of card inside crackers.

While I think of myself as a "green" person, I will only go so far. All our kitchen waste - potato and carrot peelings, egg shells, left-over bits of fruit - goes in a neat little bin which, when full, we take to the allotment and tip into the compost pile. I also save all our wine bottles and newspapers and make regular trips to the bottle and paper bank.

And I also raid skips on a regular basis, salvaging firewood and other bits and pieces that I have a use for (on my last 'raid' - it's not entirely legal - I came across a like-minded pensioner who told me that she had landscaped her garden with the fruits of skip scouring).

But while I'm all in favour of re-using products and reducing waste, I refuse to go down the road of some people, whose kitchens resemble official waste disposal depots. They have various buckets and bins dotted about, bearing labels - "Aluminium", "Glass", and "Plastic".

I don't even have room for the bottles and papers that I keep and, unless someone is willing to pay for an extension to my home to be used as a recycling plant, I can't begin to go any further.

And, like the suggestions for Christmas waste, it's incredibly time-consuming. I marvel at those people who, after opening a tin of beans, meticulously remove the label, crush the can and shove it in a container with dozens of others.

The thought is there. If I find an unfranked envelope in the post I rip off the corner and put it to one side. But, with everything else that life throws up, it usually takes me about two years to get around to picking up the bit of paper and steaming off the stamp.

And then you have to find the glue...

Being environmentally friendly takes up too much energy. Still, at least I didn't dump the Christmas tree. And if anyone wants proof, I've got a car full of pine needles.

Updated: 11:33 Monday, January 13, 2003