Can I do anything green with the ashes in my fireplace?

That depends on what you have been burning, and whether you have a garden.

According to the Royal Horticultural Society, wood ash incorporated into your soil will improve its structure because of the large particles it contains. It is also just the ticket to raise the soil's pH, if you need to make your soil more alkaline.

Although many plants, such as tomatoes and potatoes, prefer a slightly acidic soil (pH6 to pH6.5), others such as brassicas - the cabbage and broccoli family - thrive in alkaline surroundings.

If you haven't a clue what soil you're working with, you can buy soil-tester kits from most gardening centres (or try greenfingers.com; £6).

When applying ash, a shovel load per square metre once a year is enough. Dig it into the topsoil a little so that it doesn't blow away.

You can also compost wood ash, says the RHS, as long as you apply it in thin layers so that it blends with other compostable materials.

Coal ash, on the other hand, is no use to anyone. It's inorganic, so won't break down, and has a negligible nutrient content. City dwellers, who are stuck with burning smokeless coal because of the regulations to combat pollution in urban areas, will find their fireplace remnants hard to deal with. I'm afraid it will be the bin for them, but please let me know if you have a better solution.

For those of us who are lucky enough to have enjoyed roaring wood fires over the winter months, remember to reserve a bag or two of ash to combat snails and slugs. Scattering ash around vulnerable plants deters these pests as it sucks the water out of them. Cruel, I know, but potentially lettuce-saving.

Can I recycle energy- saving light bulbs?

Given government plans to phase out traditional bulbs, it's a good question. These bulbs, containing tiny amounts of mercury, are classified as hazardous waste under the EU directive, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). So you shouldn't drop them in your normal bin. However, the WEEE regulations that are responsible for their safe disposal have not inspired me with confidence. Retailers and manufacturers are supposed to share responsibility for what consumers do with their electrical waste. But, after much talk about an increase in collection sites run by local councils and retailers offering take-back schemes, little of it has happened. On the website of Philips - the makers of my favourite bulb, the Softone - it recommends that you find a “Designated Collection Facility” (homelighting. philips.com).

There is nothing on how to do this, but luckily you've got me to tell you to enter your postcode into the search engine on recyclenow.com and look for the collection centre that accepts electrical items. I know it's a bit much to expect you to trek off to a wasteland in some far-off part of town, just because you've got a dead light bulb to deal with, but if you wait until you have a junk collection, you can make a day of it. At mine, I can recycle anything from a broken bicycle to a sofa.

Hopefully, the dead light- bulb scenario won't happen often. None of my energy- saving bulbs has packed up on me, even the ones I've been using for several years.

CLICK IT

As the weather picks up, so, too, do car boot sales. To find one nearest you, go to carboot junction.com where there is also information about fees for buyers and sellers. Since re-using is eco order of the day, this Sunday morning ritual is the perfect way to salvage items, or to make a few pennies by setting up your own stall.

SKIP IT

Fish farms have been accused of destroying the numbers of wild fish by scientists at Dalhousie University, in Nova Scotia. A report has blamed the drop in Scotland's wild salmon stocks (by more than 80 per cent over the past 25 years) on escaped fish from fish farms bringing with them disease and parasites.

DO IT

Need another reason to buy Fairtrade coffee? According to Which? magazine, Cafedirect tastes better than non-Fairtrade brands. By comparison, Giles Hilton, the chief taster for Whittards, was unimpressed by Douwe Egberts, saying it had a “poor, dull taste”.

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