A: Composting is the ideal solution. In these days of identity theft, we’re advised to shred anything with our name and address on it. The safest place for secrets is at the bottom of a pile of rotting kitchen waste; the worms won’t breathe a word.

Shredded paper will stop a compost bin getting too soggy and it will bring you one step closer to eco-heaven as you’re reducing your waste. To buy a bin, go to www.recyclenow.com (0845 6000323).

At the start of the year, one third of UK councils collected shredded paper so you may be one of the lucky ones. It can technically be recycled at paper mills and turned into toilet rolls and cardboard boxes. My council, Camden, says the main problem is that it blows away when it’s left outside in green bins. As a rule, it won’t accept it. But when I rang, a helpful waste adviser offered to sort out a special collection from my home. If you’re as sweet as me on the phone, you may get the same treatment. But as a proud new owner of a shredded-paper-loving wormery, this little affects me. Smug? Moi?

Q: I’d like to get involved with green issues in my local community. Where should I start?

A: Easy. You're just in time for World Environment Day, June 5. Set up in 1972 by the United Nations, it marks the creation of the UN Environment Programme. It is celebrated across the world, from street rallies in Mexico to mass tree-planting in Cameroon.

Closer to home, I’d put my money on there being something happening near you. In London, the Regent’s Park Green Fair and Bike Fest, on June 4, features solar-powered cinema and the latest electric cars, as well as being a good excuse for a picnic.

Check local listings or log on to environment-agency.gov.uk. It has set up an e-mail address for event queries (wed@environment-agency.gov.uk). Or you can try the traditional method of green networking.

Hang out at your local healthfood shop — that hotbed of eco- activism — until you are roped into a worthy enterprise by the guy stacking quinoa. If he doesn’t deliver, at least you can fill your pockets with the leaflets advertising green events found in such shops.

Failing that, I’m quite taken with itsyourspace.org.uk, which lists more than 50 organisations recruiting volunteers and giving advice on how to find community groups across Britain. Sponsored by CABE, the Government’s advisory commission on architecture, urban design and public space, it has a “Get

Involved” section bringing together all those websites that anyone who has considered volunteering or community activism will have been directed towards. And then possibly forgotten.

E-mail green dilemmas to ecoworrier@thetimes.co.uk