LIVEWIRE Julia Robertson left behind white water rafting down under to help solve the growing waste disposal problem in Ryedale.

She has just taken up her post at Ryedale House with a remit to involve other surrounding local authorities with ways of getting people to think differently about waste.

With just seven years left at Ryedale's own landfill site, the problem of packaging and excess rubbish is becoming more and more pressing.

She previously worked for BTCV (formerly British Trust for Conservation Volunteers). In America, she taught windsurfing and sailed up the east coast of Australia before helping to build 200km of footpaths to Alice Springs. It was during this time, doing fauna and bat surveys, that her love of the environment grew.

She will be co-ordinating "waste minimisation" strategies between district councils in order to provide a coherent plan covering the whole area. Her aim is to reduce the amount of rubbish we throw away.

"Even things we throw away, like peelings and grass cuttings, can be easily composted so you don't have to throw them away in bins," she said.

"It's thinking about what is rubbish and what isn't and what can be reused and recycled. To take this on there will be a pilot scheme next year."

And Ryedale after the years spent in less gentle areas? "I am enthusiastic," she said. "I love the outdoors and we have got two national parks on our doorstep."

Updated: 11:42 Wednesday, September 11, 2002