Thirty years ago Abba were topping the charts and glam rockers were pulling on their platforms to entertain the nation.

Top of the Pops, fronted by a cigar-puffing Sir Jimmy Savile, was the music programme to watch on Thursday nights.

Debbie Johns recalls her canny geography teacher taping the show for his pupils to watch the following day at school, in return for the three newspapers he requested they each bring in to recycle.

Going green wasn't as much of a consideration in the Seventies as it is now, but for Debbie that era was a significant turning point and led to the environmentally-friendly life she leads now.

The 42-year-old primary school teacher from Nab Wood has always been interested in the environment. She recalls her parents having an allotment and growing their own when she was young. "They grew our veg and I was involved in that as a child. I've always had an interest in the environment and nature and I did biological science as a degree," says Debbie.

After leaving school, she started taking her newspapers to Friends of the Earth, the green pressure group she later joined in a conscious effort to protect the environment.

Her quest continues. Long before local councils introduced recycling bins for households, Debbie was already doing her bit, taking her newspapers to recycling sites.

For her, the process of having her recycled rubbish collected from home has made being green much easier. She no longer has to pollute the environment by driving to recycling sites in the car. She only uses her car for essential trips and long journeys.

She regularly walks to where she wants to go and husband Martin, also a teacher, cycles his daily three-mile journey to school.

"Over the last 19 years I've cycled to work," he says. "It just seems to make sense. I can cover any peak-time urban journey quicker than in a car, I gain fitness, save at least £1,000 a year, I'm making a negligible impact on those living on the road and I can clear my head!"

Such is the couple's commitment to saving the planet and curbing the use of landfill sites that they have even resorted to using real nappies' on their 16-month-old son Rowan.

Debbie tried them when daughter Ruth, now eight, was a baby.

"Because we had square terry-towelling nappies and pins I didn't find it easy but there's now a lot more choice in real nappies now," says Debbie. "They're shaped with poppers and because they're so much better I've found them easier to use."

Debbie received support and advice from Bradford's Real Nappy Project, an organisation set up to promote the use of real nappies within the city and district.

The overall aim is to reduce the use of disposable nappies which ultimately end up in the country's landfill sites - sites which are rapidly filling up. It is estimated that over the next eight years Britain will run out of land to fill, a daunting prospect considering the staggering amount of waste we generate.

Reducing the amount of packaging is something supermarkets and manufacturers are looking at. "We try and avoid packaging as much as we can," says Debbie. "I take my own bags and I try to do little things like putting loose pears in the trolley rather than putting them in a plastic bag."

She explains the three plastic tubs in her kitchen help her divide her rubbish so it reaches the right destination. "We do try to do like most people and try and sort it out," says Debbie, who also composts what she can.

Green bags distributed to some of Bradford's households enable home owners to recycle their garden rubbish, a service Debbie takes advantage of.

"We try and do as much as we can," she says. "I don't want to go round with a banner saying we're the best but we do what we can within the constraints of family life."

Martin agrees: "We're not claiming the moral high ground, we know people who do more than we do.

"As a family we try to recycle our waste and reduce our energy consumption. Bradford Council has been excellent in providing recycling facilities. All our garden waste, cards, paper, cans and bottles are collected. Anything else we can take to the tip in a cycle trailer.

"We do run the car for long journeys and no matter what the advertisers say there is no such thing as an environmentally-friendly car. They all pollute."

As far as travelling is concerned, Debbie wouldn't boycott family holidays abroad but she foresees an air mile allowance to curb the number of people who jet off for a weekend abroad.

"In the long term, having an allowance may be the way forward," says Debbie. "The warning signs are already there and more has to be done. Individuals and I think the Government have to take more of a lead in pushing forward greener issues.

"Things have changed but not as much as they need to both nationally and internationally. Things are moving too slowly in that sense. We can do our own thing in our own homes but we can only do so much.

"If you can do a little bit it all helps and it all mounts up. And if it's awareness to start with it's a step in the right direction."

Adds Martin: "We've always been interested in reducing our impact on the environment. The earth is our only planet so why not look after it?

"If we want our children to grow up breathing clean air, have open spaces to play in, be able to walk safely around the neighbourhood and have the opportunity to visit some of the world's unspoiled areas then we have a responsibility to live a more sustainable lifestyle.

"We are pleased to see more awareness of the need to live a sustainable lifestyle. It's not all about solar panels and wind turbines. It's probably just as effective to save energy in more passive ways such as lagging the loft, fitting double glazing and energy-saving light bulbs and replacing some car journeys with a bike ride."