Not my bag

Trip, stumble, fall

• Chris Jeavans
• 3 Aug 08, 08:17 AM GMT

Barely three days into my challenge, I've taken a couple of accidental tumbles from the plastic-free wagon.

Yesterday, we squelched along to the somewhat muddy Garstang Agricultural Show, near Preston in Lancashire.

It was a grand family day out with heavy horse displays, marquees full of prize rabbits, chickens and ducks, WI cake competitions, food stalls and craft demonstrations.

After a busy morning of inspecting tractors and patting rare breed sheep, I was more than a little pleased to find a plastic-free lunch: jumbo sausage in a (not so jumbo) chunk of baguette.

But after that we fancied a coffee so I queued for some, diligently asked them not to put lids on the paper cups and then recoiled when I realised they weren't paper at all.

There was a paper core to them but the outside had a layer of bubbly polystyrene. Excellent for heat-insulation, and I didn't burn my hands carrying the coffees, not so excellent from a non-plastic point of view.

I have kept my cup and will save it, along with any other plastic I accumulate in August, so that at the end of the month I can compare it with my normal plastic consumption.

The second deviation from my mission was in accepting a free balloon for our 18-month-old son.

The balloon was natural latex (which biodegrades, at least on land) but the stick to which it was attached was plastic.

However I did not feel I could deny him this fantastic toy, which he then happily trailed through the mud.

Elsewhere at the show, I had some small success at plastic-free food shopping, buying a "bomb" of Lancashire cheese encased in traditional wax, which was being sold alongside the now more familiar clingfilm-wrapped chunks.

At £5.50 it was far from cheap, and certainly not something I would buy weekly, but I was assured it would last for another two years in its protective coating "as long as you don't let the sun get on it". Quite.

And as the weather had warmed up, we headed over to the beer tent for a refreshing half of local ale. But I was not able to slake my thirst as all the drinks were sold in disposable plastic cups. Back to the metal water bottle for me.

On the way home, however, I serendipitously heard a solution for this problem. Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie, broadcasting from the Cambridge Folk Festival for BBC Radio 2, were chatting to a man who had brought his own tankard to the beer tent.

It was made from 100% leather: no plastic required.

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