From toothbrushes to Tupperware; $20 notes to wheelie bins, we need plastic in our lives like Britney needs underwear. But it's not such a flexible friend when it comes to the environment. Here are some ways to make your plastic encounters a bit greener.

Banish bags
Of course, we all remember to take reusable bags to the supermarket, every shopping trip. Ahem. But plastic bags are everywhere (4.77 billion used a year at the last count).

Do: take them to special recycling bins in supermarkets - they'll be collected and made into useful things like fence posts.

Don't: put them in your kerbside recycling. They're the number one enemy of the recycling plant, says Stuart Fyfe of Planet Ark. "People don't realise that if they put recyclables in plastic bags it'll take manual labour to remove them again. It really slows down the process."

Go topless
And while we're recycling... taking a moment to empty bottles and remove tops will earn you cosmic brownie points. Plastic bottle tops are mostly made from a different, unrecyclable type of plastic to the bottle itself. "Very few councils can process these, so always remove them," says Fyfe. Same goes for glass bottle tops and jar lids.

Shop smart
Plastics are an oil-derived product - just the thought of which is enough to get Al Gore reaching for his PowerPoint presentation.

The best way to set his mind at ease? Buy as little of the stuff as you can. Easier said than done, but some smart swaps include: matches instead of disposable lighters, soap instead of bottles of shower gel or handwash, food with minimal packaging, wooden toys instead of plastic ones (IKEA do a great range).

Crack codes
A dizzying variety of recycling symbols and logos appear on plastic products. A main source of confusion is the Plastics Identification Code - the "chasing arrows" triangular logo with a number or code inside.

Manufacturers stamp this on a product to identify the type of plastic, not to indicate a product can be recycled. No wonder nearly 50 per cent of Australians report being confused about what's recyclable. Check what your council can accept at recyclingnearyou.com.au or call the National Recyling Hotline on 1300 733 712.

Cistern act
Keep one plastic bottle (and top) out of the recycling bin and you can save thousands of litres of water a year. If you don't have a dual-flush toilet, a super-easy way to reduce water usage is to fill a 750ml or 1.25 litre plastic bottle with water and put it in your toilet cistern. Each time you flush you'll save that amount of water. (Putting a brick in there has a similar water-saving effect, but can damage your toilet's inner workings. And who wants to go there?).

Got some green living advice that's good for the environment (and your conscience)? Time to spread the eco-love in a comment below.