Meet the woman from Somerset who has gone ten months without putting her black bin out

• Watch Gill Hampson speak to ITV News West Country reporter Ellie Barker

A woman from Somerset has gone ten months without putting her black waste-bin out to try and reduce her impact on the environment.

Gill Hampson from Somerton only buys recyclable products, gets refills where possible and takes all her soft plastics to supermarket recycling points, meaning she's not used her black bin for almost a year.

The PE teacher said she was inspired to make the environmental commitment after living in Germany for years - a country she says is further ahead than the UK in its sustainability.

The 62-year-old told ITV News West Country that making environmentally-friendly decisions has now become a part of everyday life.

"It's perfectly simple, everything's got a place and it all goes in its place", she said.

“It all begins with shopping. I only buy recyclable products and I get my milk delivered", she said.

Gill hopes her actions will encourage others in the community to do the same.

"Not everybody has to go a year without putting their bin out but if everybody just does a little bit more - maybe just recycles as much as they absolutely possibly can for maybe 80 per cent of the time.

"We've got a really good recycling service in Somerset so if everybody's just takes advantage of what's already out there  and if you can take your soft plastics to the supermarket - because that's been the biggest thing for me - then you should be fine", she added.

Gill says she’s determined to make 2023 the year she doesn’t use her black bin at all.

"It'll go down to micro-level next year", she said.

"I'm going to look at absolutely everything and see if there's a different way to get rid of it - whether it's taking blister packs to Superdrug to recycle my makeup. Anything."