Nicola Starkey tries to reduce her impact on the environment

She uses the train to travel to work, she hasn't flown by aeroplane for two years and she has embraced the city's recycling services.

"I'm also very aware of what food I buy and try to buy locally produced foods whenever I can," she said.

"I think people are more aware of the responsibility we have to the world."

The 29-year-old added: "It's a bit like smoking. Not long ago everyone was smoking in pubs and then overnight it became anti-social, and I think that's how people see issues like recycling.

"It's anti-social not to recycle especially when it is so easy to do.

"You can really see the difference with how much waste can be recycled too.

"Everyone living in our road recycles and I think that is because Newport Council have made it so that black bag waste is only picked up once a fortnight.

"If people didn't recycle and compost, they would find it quite hard I think."

Household items that would once have been landfilled are now recycled

Ms Starkey who lives with her partner Rhydian said that buying locally-produced food had become an important part of their weekly shop.

"When we go to the supermarket, we will always buy British or Welsh where we can because we are aware of the food miles.

"And when we buy fish we always make sure it has come from a sustainable stock.

"We get an organic food box delivered to us to which has locally grown food."

Ms Starkey said she thought attitudes generally to thinking about the environment were changing.