My Friday Night Treat

Since committing to living a plant-based lifestyle, I’ve faced varied challenges and had to make lots of changes. Controlling what I eat at home is fairly easy, but when I’m out and about I have to plan ahead wherever possible. I also have to be prepared for lots of questions. One of the most common questions I get is ‘Isn’t your diet really limited?’ My answer is no. I’m finding that I’m eating a much more varied diet than when I was an omnivore, and more varied than a lot of omnivores I know. And, believe it or not, I can still eat out and enjoy social gatheirngs that involve food. My gluten allergy throws up a few more problems for me, but I don’t let it stop me.

One of my favourite places to eat out, or order take away, in Cardiff is Noodlebox. They do an awesome Veggie Soba Box with Rice Noodles that is both vegan and gluten free. Most Friday nights, I treat myself to Noodlebox and a glass of wine.

Whilst I’m on the subject of my glass of wine, my wine glasses are one of the coolest discoveries I have made. They are made from reused beer bottles (if you take the base off the wine glass, put it on the top and flip the whole thing upside down you get the original beer bottle). So not only are they stylish, they’re also made from reused waste. Everybody who sees them always asks about my awesome wine glasses. You can also get tumblers made from the same bottles.

I did slip up today though. At the start of this year, I made a pledge to create less unnecessary waste. I’ve been try to cut down on the amount of disposable paper and plastic I use. Since January I’ve made an effort to use my washable handkerchiefs over tissues, to resuse scrap paper at work and, so far, I’ve only thrown away one disposable take-out coffee cup (I was with a new group of people and, in a ditzy moment, I completely forgot my pledge when someone asked me if I’d like a coffee). Anyway, back to today. At 4.20pm, I raced off on my bike to one of our local leisure centres to take part in a spin class. It was only as I arrived at the leisure centre that I realised I’d forgotten my water bottle. I always carry my water bottle with me, to save using plastic cups and bottles, and I would have kicked myself if I hadn’t been wearing so much restrictive cycling gear. There was no way I could face a 45 minute spin class followed by twenty laps in the swimming pool without water, so I gave in and bought a bottle from the vending machine. I don’t just want to throw the empty bottle away, though. I want to find a new, practical use for it. Not only will this ensure that it is reused, it will also serve as a reminder to me to take my water bottle with me next time. I think I’m going to take inspiration from my beer bottle wine glasses, and turn the plastic bottle into a flower pot using a similar design. I’ll let you know how I get on.

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