Dear Jasminda,

My mum has gone a bit crazy with the whole plastic-free thing. The fridge is full of vegetables. She’s cleaning with bicarb soda. There are no snacks in the house. I’m starving and today she told me to wash my hair with vinegar!!

SF, Anna Bay

Dear SF,

Mmm. Look I feel your pain. There’s nothing worse than a mum that takes on something new, because mums tend to go into these ventures full tilt. My kids are still unrolling their t-shirts and trying to unknot their underwear that I’d turned into origami swans during my Marie Kondo phase. The casual Buddhist attempt didn’t end well either.

But let’s look at this from your mum’s point of view. It’s Plastic Free July and though it may be a bit challenging for you, she’s trying to do her bit for the environment. Since you live in Anna Bay, a fantastic part of the world, I bet you really enjoy swimming and surfing and riding your bike on all the amazing bush tracks. What your mum is doing, along with lots of other people, is trying to help keep the bush and the ocean and all the amazing creatures that rely on the environment, including us, happy and healthy.

It may be a bit of a challenge for you, but maybe you could come up with just one way to reduce plastic that will keep your mum happy and let her know you support her. You mentioned there are no snacks in the house and that’s because your mum would have tried to buy snacks but realised most of them are packaged in layers of plastic, so you could maybe have a bit of a baking session with her. You won’t be starving and your mum will be so thrilled that maybe she’ll splash out on a shampoo bar from the health food shop or supermarket instead of the vinegar option (tell her it’s a plastic-free option and she’ll be super impressed).

Another thing you could do is bribe her. Say, ‘Mum, I’ll support you and Dad with this plastic free thing, but I want the money from the bottles you take to the recycling centre or I’ll call you out on social media by letting everyone know that 95 per cent of them are from alcoholic beverages.’

I reckon your mum will be totally up for that sweet little deal, SF, and I won’t say it was my idea, or make any mention of the fact it’s also Dry July, as long as you don’t buy anything that’s single-use plastic with the proceeds.

Carpe diem,
Jasminda.