Thankfully, I've always recognised the value of sunshine and the importance of the kitchen / living area of a house.  These were combined in the design and positioning of our house, resulting in the creation of a micro-climate in this area of the home.

Although this alignment was only allowed on a planning permission appeal and is coupled with heat conserving insulation, we now have the continuous good fortune of enjoying the benefits of the sun shining in the kitchen / living room windows from dawn until dusk on the longest day, and every other day of the year  - when the sun shines of course.

This allows us to be comfortable indoors, even in the wintertime - even with snow on the ground - without using artificial heat, while the sun is shining.

I haven't used a conventional rubbish bin since we moved into this house in 1987.  All our rubbish is recycled in one way or another either in the home / garden or through recycling / bring centres.

Waste food, if we have it,  vegetable peelings, etc. are fed to the animals or composted.  Regardless of how many jars, bottles, egg boxes, etc. we collect, we never have enough when they're needed for bottling or preserving.

Junk mail through the letterbox is our biggest problem, as most of this is shiny / glossy paper that doesn't compost easily.  It's shredded and used as bedding, nest material for our hens or used to separate eggs when placed in boxes / baskets for others to take away.  Broken egg boxes are used in the smoker when we are opening a beehive.

Toilet roll inserts are used for growing individual seeds - these are planted directly into the soil when frost is no longer a threat.  I pay attention to packaging when shopping; asking, can it be reused or how easily can it be recycled?

Seed & potting compost is generated from our household / garden waste, never purchased. The compost heap is large and composting is speeded by a regular layer of chicken manure from the hen houses.

We're not puritanical about any of this, there are always exceptions but it's surprising how natural it becomes to find an alternative use for almost anything used in the household.

Interestingly: The word "ecology" comes from the Greek "oikos", meaning "household" or "place to live".