I have three developments to tell you about this week. First, Sainsbury’s now makes me sad. Second, I have discovered that I am not the only person in Cambridge who cares about waste. Third (and I think most impressively), I took Tupperware to Gardies, and almost nailed Zero Waste drunk food.

The first is maybe not an ideal situation. As I slowly learn more and more about the waste situation, walking into canteens and shops can now sometimes be low-key aggravating and upsetting.

Seeing rows and rows of plastic water bottles, dozens of ready meals with their multiple layers of packaging, and mounds of individually wrapped chocolate bars now elicits the occasional visceral internal squelch of frustration (exactly as un-delicious as it sounds). How can we have got to this stage of ubiquitous packaging and not stopped to think about it at all?

It’s frustrating because of course I understand exactly how easy it is to be blind to our wastefulness. It’s just part of common practices – just as, fortunately, activities like recycling are now starting to be, too.

The reason I mention all this is because of responses I’ve had to the first instalment of this series, both from friends and strangers – the second strange occurrence. Although the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive (for which I am exceedingly grateful), I am slightly concerned for those who, having opened their eyes to the problems of waste, feel overwhelmed with sadness at the crapness of human practices.

Comrades, I relate to your melancholy, I really do. But I also promised that there were solutions to this, namely reducing our individual waste output and taking control of the stuff that enters our lives.

Here are a few things that require little to no effort that you can start doing now, but which will hopefully help you start your journey in assuaging feelings of #frustrWASTEion. (I don’t have Twitter; someone please make this work.)

Say NO to straws and napkins

Who thought that something as seemingly benign as plastic straws could be so environmentally damaging? While they are technically recyclable, the reality is that most restaurants, cafés and other food outlets do not in fact recycle them.

According to one campaign to ban straw usage in restaurants back in 2012, McDonald’s alone was serving 3.5 MILLION drinks with straws in the UK EVERY DAY. Given their small size, if they don’t end up in landfill, plastic straws can travel along drains and pipes, ending up in rivers and eventually impacting on marine life.

Paper napkins? Once used, they are not recyclable. As with all food-soiled paper and cardboard, the recycling process just can’t get separate the oil from the material’s fibres, and they have to be removed from the recycling line (but not without first possibly contaminating the rest of the recyclable waste).

The easy solution: when ordering drinks or food, just ask for them without straws or napkins. Normally no questions are asked, but if you get a funny look just stand your ground. You are saving the planet after all, and it can feel good to know that you are challenging the normal patterns of consumption in a small but powerful way.

If using a straw is really an essential part of your life (to each their own), you can find reusable alternatives here and here. For napkins, bring your own cloth napkin (best), or ask for a cloth napkin/towel (food places normally have one). Alternatively, you could just, if possible, like, not be grubby.

Prepare for free food

There seems to be no end to the amount of free food available for Cambridge students, whether it be post-seminar lunches or inescapable, endless, wine and cheese socials. While these can be occasions for not inconsiderable excitement, they can also produce not inconsiderable waste – paper plates, single-use cutlery and plastic cups all get five brie-covered minutes of limelight before invariably ending up in the trash.

Solution: bring your own plate, cup and cutlery. If I know that I am going to be getting free grub, I’ve started chucking Tupperware, a spork and travel mug in my bag at the beginning of the day and then rocking up to collect the goods, waste-free. It does slightly look like I’m stealing food, but so be it. It might even start a conversation about Zero Waste (every stranger’s favourite thing to talk about).

Note: Admittedly, I have yet to try asking for wine in my travel mug, but will keep you posted on that front.

The basics: Water bottle and travel mug

Most of you will have these any way, but it’s worth a small reminder. With these two goodies, you need never buy plastic bottles or use paper cups again: great for both Zero Waste and monetary savings. Several coffee shops – including Sidgwick buttery – offer a discount on drinks if you bring your own mug.

Take your own bags when you go shopping

Another obvious one, but Tim makes the point especially compellingly:

Take control of what people hand to you, but don’t freak out if it goes wrong

Generally, we can reduce our individual waste production by simply thinking before accepting whatever it is people are trying to give to us. Whether this be a tiny plastic bag for things we buy – birthday cards, stationery, fruit and veg – or flyers handed to us on the street, if you don’t want it, just politely refuse!

I’ve actually started feeling weirdly happier now that I’m not accepting miscellaneous crap into my life. Clutter-free living and all that. But, of course, I’ve also messed up. It’s important not to beat yourself up about this, but to try to figure out how you can avoid those problems again.

Case in point: last Friday, after a couple of drinks with some mates (where I also received one pint from Downing Bar in a plastic cup which I now take with me to other drinks events), I went off in search of some much needed sustenance.

Styrofoam is pretty much the worst material from a waste point of view (unrecyclable, and it literally takes 500 years (forever) to decompose), so I was worried about how I would get my all-important cheesy chips. But lo and behold! In my bag I had my Tupperware box (highlighting the importance of always being prepared).

Having been refused Tupperware chips at Van of Life – to try again another day – I found Zero Waste acceptance in the haven we call Gardies. With a slight chuckle they accepted my tub and duly filled it with (what I thought was a rather generous) portion of cheesy chips.

The only problem? Before I could say anything, they stuck a plastic fork in the top. All is not lost, however, as this is now my designated chip fork, and I’ll know to ask for no cutlery next time. We live and learn.