Gwen Harris on her efforts to cut down on plastic use and the salutary lessons awaiting those who do the same

I can fully endorse Emma Beddington’s experience (My no-plastic life: I tried to cut out single-use items for a month – and it almost broke me, 12 February). Two years ago, I tried to give up using single-use plastic for Lent. I managed reasonably well for about a week while I used up fresh and frozen food in my fridge and freezer. But as soon as I started having to purchase fresh food, I ran into trouble.

I learned quickly that the convenience of plastic has lulled us into accepting the status quo in shops and supermarkets. Almost everything, food and non-food, has plastic in its packaging. Even jars of food often have a ring of plastic around the metal top, which itself may well have a plastic lining. At one stage, when in desperation to be able to have tea with milk, I drove 15 miles especially to buy said milk in a glass bottle. I wondered if I was doing more harm than good to the planet.