RECYCLING and waste reduction have both become part of daily life for the staff of Pendle Council in Lancashire.

Staff have been working with Global Action Plan, a charity that tackles environmental problems in practical and innovative ways.

A system of colour coded bins has been introduced in all council buildings to separate paper, cans, plastic bottles and other leftover waste.

The project has been spearheaded by the council's Green Champions, a group of staff who are implementing the recycling ideas. The team's co-ordinator Jane Wright said: "The measures are small in themselves, but together they make a huge difference.

"We've introduced recycling bins and have been successful in encouraging staff to archive emails instead of printing them, print and photocopy on both sides of paper and use mugs instead of plastic cups."