A well-run allotment produces very little waste. Most weeds and crop residues can be composted. Prunings and hedge trimmings can be chipped for use as a mulch, or stacked in an out of the way corner as a habitat for beetles and millipedes.

If you take on a neglected plot you may find you have a lot of rubbish to get rid of. Allotment gardeners are great recyclers. The previous tenant on your plot may have made a greenhouse out of old window frames or a compost bin from For Sale boards, but over the years useful garden structures can become rickety eyesores.

Skips are provided on most sites 3 or 4 times a year.

• general rubbish skips - usually yellow - are for waste that must be sent to landfill
• green waste skips - usually painted bright green - are for woody garden waste or perennial weeds that you can't compost on your own plot. The waste from these skips is chipped and composted
• a skip schedule may be posted on your site notice board. If not, ask your site secretary when the next skip is due.

For advice on composting, and bargain compost bins, look at the York Rotters site at St Nicholas Fields.