Her mosaic artworks are a testament to that approach.

Ms Wilkinson sources glass scraps, which are otherwise bound for landfill, from lead lighters and re-purposes them in her art.

She also uses found objects, such as tables, as foundations for her mosaic creations.

“I’m a conservationist when it comes to the environment and I’m part of the 1 Million Women project for climate change,” Ms Wilkinson said.

A worm farm and a recycling system mean very little rubbish winds up in the household’s red bin.

“I just feel I have to follow the same principles as an artist,” Ms Wilkinson said on the eve of National Recycling Week.

That is Ms Wilkinson’s way of making a small contribution to a big problem and she says being able to transform discarded objects into art is very rewarding.

Art was very meditative, Ms Wilkinson said, and she likened it to being a child with a box of coloured pencils.

Ms Wilkinson creates mosaic commissions for private collections and also works on community arts projects.

She said when it came to recycling, every little step mattered.

“Part of it is making choices when you shop, but that’s become really difficult,” Ms Wilkinson said.

She said there were little things we could all do to make a huge difference.

Examples include ditching processed foods, where possible, in favour of making meals from scratch and discovering new uses for items which would otherwise find their way to the bin.

As China’s waste import “ban” hits Australia and our population and waste levels continue to rise, recycling right matters more than ever.

Planet Ark is encouraging Australians to reboot their perspective on recycling in the most important National Recycling Week since it was founded 22 years ago.

Recycling Week runs from November 12 to 18.

Residents, businesses and organisations around Australia can help by taking control of their own recycling journey and discovering the many elements of recycling outside the public eye.

Nearly all Australians recycle and think of themselves as conscientious recyclers but many residents want to know what happens once the wheelie bin is emptied from kerbside.

Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week was founded to put national focus on the environmental benefits of recycling.

This year’s theme, From Waste War to Recycling Reboot, aims to resolve some of the confusion surrounding how to recycle right and what happens to our recycling once it has left our hands.

A council survey conducted by Planet Ark found the most common recycling mistake made by residents was soft plastics, bagged recyclables and food scraps or organics being placed in the recycling bin.

Planet Ark recycling programs manager Ryan Collins said Planet Ark’s research revealed despite 71 per cent of people being confident in knowing what could and couldn’t be recycled, 61 per cent would still like to see more information on these topics.