BREAK THE PLASTIC HABIT

THE FIGHT BEGINS IN YOUR KITCHEN!

WBut in the past ten years, the impact of that campaign has been astounding: for most of us, taking our own bags to do the food shopping, rather than relying on plastic ones at the supermarket, is now second nature — and our consumption of plastic bags in the UK has gone down by a staggering 85 per cent.

It really does prove that every small step helps.

All this week, we are serialising a brilliant new book, Life Without Plastic by husband-and-wife team Chantal Plamondon and Jay Sinha.

The couple have dedicated the past 15 years to finding ingenious ways to cut back on plastic and become much savvier when it comes to recycling.

In yesterday’s paper, they showed us clever ways to say no to plastic when we are out and about. Today, the focus is on blitzing our kitchens.

For most of us, the kitchen is not only the heart of our homes but also the hub of our singleuse plastic consumption. From the handy shelf filled with rolls of sandwich and freezer bags, cling film and bin bags to the drawer packed with plastic spatulas and spoons, the cupboard full of storage containers, and the numerous plastic bottles of cleaning products and fluids stashed under the sink, plastic seems inescapable — and indispensable.

every piece of kitchen plastic, it seems, performs a thoroughly useful function. And no matter how well-intentioned you are, it might seem impossible to consider cutting back.

But in fact your kitchen is one of the easiest rooms to attack first — and it really needn’t take huge amounts of time, effort or expense. There’s no need for a radical overhaul.

In just a few minutes, you can make some simple changes to radically reduce your plastic impact. here’s how…

SWAP: CLING FILM FOR BEESWAX WRAPS

CLIng film is one single-use plastic that’s particularly difficult to recycle, and one everyone can learn to live without.

More than 1.2 billion metres are used by households across Britain every year. That’s 745,000 miles of cling film — enough to wrap around the world 30 times over.

So the first step is simply being aware of, and cutting back on, how much you use.

If you must use it, do so sparingly — never put it in the microwave and don’t let it touch your food.

Instead, try wrapping foods you need to take out the house with you — such as your children’s lunch sandwiches — in baking parchment to keep them fresh, and make every effort to repurpose takeaway pots.

If you can’t break your cling film habit, at the very least opt for Bacofoil’s biodegradable hen the Daily Mail launched its Banish The Bags campaign in February 2008, it was easy to believe the steadily rising tide of plastic presented an insurmountable problem.

cling film, available from Sainsbury’s and Waitrose. It’s slightly more expensive at £2.20 for 40m, but breaks down within two years, as opposed to the many decades it takes normal cling film to fully decompose.

Cutting back on cling film is also an opportunity to introduce a pretty, retro style to your kitchen. A lace cotton cover, popular in the post-war years, can be placed over the top of jugs containing sauces or over ceramic bowls to keep baked goods fresh. Or you could try cotton bowl covers (see the selection on the back page).

Patterned beeswax food wraps (main picture) are a great alternative to plastic cling film. They are made of cotton or hemp fabric dipped in a blend of beeswax and natural essential oils. They smell like honey and can be moulded to the shape of a bowl with just the heat of your fingers to keep it airtight.

Try Eddington Bee’s Wrap Honeycomb Reusable Sandwich Wrap (£15, john

lewis.com), which is fully biodegradable and compostable, or BeeBee Wraps Reusable Beeswax Food Wraps, which protect food while letting it breathe (£14, anythingbutplastic.co.uk).

Keep a few handy to cover leftover bowls, salads, a half-cut melon, bread or cheese. Wipe them clean with a damp soapy cloth or wash them with soap and cold water (hot water causes the beeswax to melt) and then reuse them. Each wrap should last for a year or so.

SWAP: PLASTIC UTENSILS FOR WOODEN ONES

YOu don’t have to go to the lengths of discarding (or recycling) plastic kitchen equipment, but it is good to be aware of just how much multi-use plastic you have in your kitchen, and to think about alternative materials when you do come to replace them.

The less plastic you buy new, the lower the demand for new plastics, meaning retailers will order less.

Plus, you can be confident that there’s no risk of plastic residues leaching into food as your plastic food mixer, blender or mixing bowls become tired and worn.

Plastic kitchen utensils have taken over most of the aisles of kitchen stores and you are very likely to have a drawer full of plastic implements, from your potato peeler to your spatula, serving spoons or sieves. As part of your plastic audit, it is worth putting any utensils that are damaged into the recycling, or giving away any that you don’t need.

Then, when it’s time to replace them, opt for vintage-look metal, glass or ceramic versions if you can. There are also excellent wood, bamboo, or stainless steel options available, from salad tongs to stirring spoons. Spatulas used for scraping out mixing bowls are more challenging to find in nonplastic versions, but with a little hunting, you should be able to find a wood-handled spatula with a removable rubber head.

SWAP: PLASTIC PEGS FOR WOODEN ONES

OPT for wooden clothes pegs — they’re quaint, retro and even cheaper than plastic ones. John Lewis sells a pack of 24 pine pegs for £2.20

(johnlewis.com). SWAP: SILICONE FOR METAL BAKEWARE

WATCH out for silicone. In recent years it has invaded the kitchen billed as a healthy, plastic-free alternative, but this is misleading.

Although silicone is stable and

resistant to temperature extremes, it is not a naturally occurring product, does not degrade easily and is not easily recycled.

In fact, silicone is non-plastic in name only.

There is no need to cull your baking cupboard, but you should stop using silicone cake and muffin tins when yours come to the end of their lives. Revert to old-fashioned metal ones instead.

SWAP: PLASTIC FOR WOODEN BOARDS

You might love your plastic chopping boards, but be warned: the scuffing action of years of cutting (and washing) will damage the plastic and increase the risk of toxic chemicals leaching out of the plastic and into your food.

Recycle any that look damaged and tired and invest in wooden chopping boards instead. Wooden boards can be effectively cleaned with soapy water.

A 1993 study even concluded that hardwood cutting boards could be more sanitary than their plastic counterparts.

Researchers dowsed different boards with a bacterial broth containing E. coli and salmonella and found that bacteria multiplied over time in the plastic (polypropylene) cutting boards, but would eventually disappear in the wooden ones.

SWAP: AN ELECTRIC FOR STOVETOP KETTLE

If YOU’VE got a plastic electric kettle, don’t consider trading it in until it’s really time to replace it.

When that day comes, investigate metal electric styles or stainless steel stovetop kettles, such as John Lewis’s classic design (£40

johnlewis.com), or a whistling

stovetop kettle (£49.99, lakeland. co.uk).

If you don’t have a gas stove, it can be challenging to find a completely plastic-free electric kettle. Try the stainless steel ottoni fabrica Italian Top Kettle (£84.90, amazon.co.uk).

It’s a worthwhile swap, and not just because you’ll be reducing your plastic use. If your kettle has plastic parts that are in direct contact with the boiling water — such as the window which allows you to see how full your kettle is — chemicals from the plastic could contaminate your water.

The potential for toxic chemicals to leach from plastics is substantially increased when boiling water is involved.

Your kettle is going to be boiling water multiple times a day, and if that boiling action is damaging the plastic, it could be putting you at risk of drinking plastic toxins in your tea or coffee.