The story of one ordinary family doing its bit to save the world

Four years ago, we changed our lives to be as sustainable as we could in everything we did. Now comes the hard part. Kate Hughes begins her fortnightly column

A zero-waste household means nothing gets chucked out (Getty/iStock)

We need to talk about gravel. Not melting icebergs or no-fly pledges – at least not yet. Gravel. Because under the narrow strip of the stuff that runs between us and next door is a dirty little secret that is not going away any time soon.

Four years ago, in what was not my most elegant moment, I put my foot through our outdoor beanbag. In seconds, despite our best efforts to contain them all, our small back garden was smothered by a polystyrene ball blizzard.

It’s not something you’d immediately think of as a life-changing event, I grant you. Insanely irritating, sure, but hardly a lightbulb moment.