Waste Not, Want Not

Lynda Hallinan sets out to rid her pantry of single-use plastics.

- Lynda Hallinan

I’m not a quitter. I refuse to give up on the good things in life. Consequently, you won’t see me banning bacon butties for Veganuary, going sugar-free in September or dieting in Droptober.  

I could calmly embrace the concept of a mindful May but junk-free June doesn’t sound appetising and Dry July is a complete misnomer at our home in the foothills of Auckland’s Hunua Ranges. Winter is so wet here that my gumboots sink ankle-deep into the mud and our neighbour’s ducks have taken up residence in the potholes on our driveway. 

I refuse to give up on the good things in life, but what about the bad? When Will McCallum’s new book How to Give Up Plastic (Penguin Life, $32,) arrived in the post this month, I sat down with a mug of mulled wine and read it from cover to cover. (The wine, I hasten to add, was 100 per cent plastic-free. I’ve perfected a lazy housewife’s method that requires nothing more than a bottle of red wine, a jar of homemade marmalade, half a dozen cloves, a cinnamon stick and a sliced orange. Stir and simmer, on low, in your slow-cooker all day.)

How to Give Up Plastic isn’t the least bit preachy. Rather, it’s full of practical tips for seeking out sustainable alternatives for the environmental scourge of our generation: single-use plastics. 

In the bathroom, for instance, why wouldn’t you swap from bottles of shower gel back to bars of soap, or use natural loofahs and cotton flannels instead of synthetic sponges and micro fibre make-up removal wipes?