Tag: War on Waste

Saying goodbye to single-use plastic Part 4: Natural Weigh, zero waste shop

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The ‘Blue Planet Effect’ is spreading far and fast it seems (yippee!) and the latest thing to pop up on my eco-radar has been Wales’ first zero waste shop – if you haven’t been yet, I urge you to give it a go. Natural Weigh is based up in Crickhowell where several pubs and restaurants have already taken the no straw stand and turned to a life with less plastic, making it a lovely little day trip or Saturday afternoon out if you’re taking the hour’s drive out of Cardiff.

The first thing to come to the minds of many of you, I’m sure; “is an hour’s drive really that eco-friendly?” Well, it depends how you use it. Ideally, if you take orders from various friends or family, or better still take them along with you and car share as I did with my boyfriend’s mum on my latest trip, then you’d be making the most of the journey and that’s what I would recommend where possible.

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What’s in this shop? All kinds! From dried fruit, nuts, pasta, rice, pulses, cereal and even cacao nibs and cocoa sweets; full details are on their website and there’s new products being added all the time, all organic as much as possible. Something I didn’t get on my first trip but stocked up on last weekend was washing up liquid; I’ve been looking into cruelty-free and more eco-friendly washing up options for a while now, you may have seen me talk about my none sponges, coconut hair scrubber and attempts at making my own washing up liquid in previous posts during my plastic series. The homemade washing up liquid didn’t quite make the grade for me sadly, so my other plan of action was to buy one of the large 5 litre bottles of Ecover washing up liquid and keep a normal-sized squeezy bottle to decant into, still involving plastic but less so than buying lots of individual bottles (and Ecover’s bottles are made from already recycled plastics AND can be recycled again). Upon realising that washing up liquid was available in Natural Weigh, however, I kept aside a large 4 pint milk bottle and an empty squeezy bottle once finished and filled up on my last trip. No purchasing of new plastic required. Perfect. (I’m yet to put it to the test in action so will keep you posted).

Recently added products include: natural deodorant, natural toothpaste (both of which I’ve bought and are just getting used to so will report back in another post), shampoo bars and a range of products from the fabulous Tabitha Eve Co. from whom I’ve purchased several items, including her best-selling none sponges, and which I’ve already raved about in my previous post! I really recommend browsing her Etsy for the full range of handmade products.

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How does the shop work? My mother asked me. This is also detailed on their website but essentially, you save up your own containers be it pre-used plastic, glass jars, old yoghurt pots, or something I’ve been doing (which I feel is a small stroke of genius, if I do say so myself); taking my empty sea salt & pepper grinders – you know, those ones with the glass base and a plastic grinding top – and just refilling straight into those. At this point I feel it necessary to add that one of my favourite things about this zero waste shopping experience is that it’s so much easier to put everything away once you get home, no faffing around unwrapping anything or decanting and spilling all over the place such as with packaged rice, pasta or condiments.

Back to the containers: you take your own containers to the shop or purchase some of their own glass jars on arrival, weigh the container empty and print a barcode for it, fill the container, scan the empty barcode and re-weigh et voila! You simply pay by weight, as the name suggests.

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What’s the advantage of this? Well you’d hope that would be obvious; the lack of unnecessary packaging not only saves on plastic, which would likely otherwise end up in landfill, rivers, oceans and eventually our food & water supplies; but also lends a much more convenient approach to shopping in many ways as just mentioned. By using your own containers or purchasing containers you can use time and time again you can ensure you’re buying only as much as you want or need, rather than being forced into purchasing more than you bargained for and potentially leading to wastage. On the flip side, if you’d rather buy things in bulk to last you a good while (which is what I tend to do) then you’re also at complete liberty to do so – your container size is your own choice.

IMG_7396Natural Weigh estimate that so far in their 8 or so weeks of being open for business, they’ve saved around 8 million tons of plastic and 2,761 pieces of single-use plastic from ending up in the oceans or going to waste. That’s fantastic! Imagine if this caught on in every town in the country; the impact could be phenomenal!

Isn’t it more expensive though? That entirely depends on what you buy and how much. As I have discovered for myself, some items are more costly than others such as loose leaf tea, nuts and organic cocoa products. However, the weight you buy is entirely up to you and don’t make my usual mistake in thinking you have fill every container if you don’t want to or are trying to stick to budget. Owners Robin and Chloe will also happily scan your stuff to give you a running total if you ask nicely ☺

As an example, below is my first shop at Natural Weigh and the total was around £20 give or take a few. Here we have: white basmati rice, spaghetti, wholewheat penne pasta, red lentils, oats, coconut flakes, pumpkin seeds, cacao nibs, banana chips, bran flakes, sea salt & chocolate ginger.

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My first zero waste haul

Have you been to a zero waste shop before? What was your favourite part about the experience? I’d definitely recommend giving it a go, I absolutely loved it and hope they catch on all over the place. Just last week in fact it was announced that Cardiff will be getting its own zero waste shop this summer, but as I said Natural Weigh is great way to spend an afternoon if you catch lunch in one of Crickhowell’s pubs as well. Great people working hard for a great cause, they deserve all the support and I hope it continues to spread the word as it has done so far!

Diolch i chi a hwyl am nawr,

Charles xx

Saying goodbye to single-use plastic: Part 3

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We’ve now had more than enough of 2018 to ‘get back into the swing of things’ and try get our heads around whatever resolutions we made for ourselves (is it really Spring already?). Hopefully, if you’ve been interested in reading this series, reducing your plastic consumption has been one of those resolutions – refer back to parts 1 and 2 for more context – and hopefully some of the little tips and tricks I’ve been sharing in my journey have helped some of you do this. Small changes really do have an impact when everyone gets involved! So, what’s new since last time?

Laundry (the bane of my adult existence)

I finally ran out of the laundry tablets I’d been using and decided to search for an eco-friendly alternative. I was sent this very useful video a few weeks ago and was tempted to make some of the laundry tablets on there, however I hadn’t realised I’d run out until going for the empty box in the cupboard (doh!) and so had to act quickly. Luckily, next day delivery is a thing and I was intrigued having read about Ecoegg from fellow Cardiff bloggers The CSI Girls and heard about it from a work friend, so I bought myself one online and it arrived the next day. So far I have absolutely no complaints!

IMG_7375The egg itself is, to be fair, made from recyclable rubber and plastic but the key selling point is that it’s not single-use and comes full of refillable pellets so that once you have an egg, all you need to do is replace the pellets to use time and time again! These pellets biodegrade throughout your washes, coming in a variety of scents (I ordered lavender to begin with but may mix it up next time) and your first full egg is claimed to last around 54 washes – you get a little tick list to keep track if you like.

Additionally, the company are UK based, UK made, cruelty-free, vegan friendly and package the product in cardboard making it fully recyclable. I’ve been really conscious over the past year or so to start phasing out anything not cruelty-free in our house, starting with makeup, so this was a major selling point for me too because you’d be surprised how many household things are tested on animals (this, like the plastic, is a gradual process of adaptation and a learning curve). I must note that on this occasion I was also very impressed with the minimalist brown paper envelope it was delivered in, later recycled. The only possible criticism is that the scent of the Ecoegg pellets isn’t as strong as some of the popular laundry detergents, but to be honest this doesn’t bother me as long as the clothes are clean!

Sustainable cinema – is it a thing yet?

IMG_7376 (1)Something else I wanted to talk about, although it may seem more of an occasional thing rather than an everyday lifestyle change, is that I’ve recently been trying to apply the reusable coffee cup principle to my cinema outings. Several years ago when Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released, I fell for the marketing strategy and bought one of the limited edition decorated drinks cups from the cinema. I had since kept it lying around as a keepsake until we went to go and see the latest film, The Last Jedi, when it dawned on me that surely if I took this drinks cup to the cinema it could be refilled same as a reusable coffee cup would in a café? The answer, sadly, has been somewhat unclear.

First time around, the poor guy did look a little confused when it wasn’t one of the more recent ones they had on sale at that time, but didn’t hesitate to fill it up once I’d explained it was already mine from years ago. Second time, the server seemed unsure what size drink it represented so insisted on pouring out a usual, plastic cup and tipping it into my reusable one and yes, this does defeat the point. Third time (was not lucky), I was flat-out told that it would not be refilled and that if I wanted to use it I’d have to tip from a normal plastic cup myself. On this same occasion, my own bamboo coffee cup lovingly featured in my first post (which was refilled without any hesitation – why the difference?!) went missing after the film so, all in all, I feel a bit defeated by this sustainable cinema quest! I’ve raised the issue with Cineworld via twitter where all of these attempts took place but so far haven’t had a clear answer. I will continue to be a pain in the arse and take my cup with me, however, so this line of enquiry is to be continued…

Cuppa, anyone?

In other news, as you may have seen it turns out that a lot of teabags are actually sealed with plastic. Slightly heart-breaking, I know. The good news, however, is that the Loose Leaf pyramid teabags from Twinings are plastic-free and fully biodegradable, or there’s always the option of loose leaf tea and a cute little strainer, such these I picked up in Madrid IMG_7308last weekend and now keep in my desk at the office (pictured right).

Moreover, this is something you could buy in bulk similar to pasta, rice, coffee etc. at the new Natural Weigh store in Crickhowell which opened last weekend and which I am dying to try out! For the time being I’ve been using up the teabags I currently have – which are still recommended to be composted at home or in the food waste bin, despite the small amounts of plastic currently in most – but will thereafter be switching to more loose leaf and making sure to buy fully compostable or biodegradable* brands when necessary – here’s a list below:

  • PG Tips pyramid bags (recent change but should be on sale now, see article for more)
  • Twinings Loose Leaf pyramid tea bags (specifically these, the rest are not yet plastic-free)
  • Pukka Herbs – fully compostable
  • Teapigs – these are confusing; the tea bags are compostable but must be put in your food waste not home compost because they need to be broken down industrially. The plastic bag the tea bags are packaged in is, however, compostable at home
  • Aldi’s premium Specially Selected range
  • Waitrose’s Duchy range
  • Coop [coming soon] – their own-brand 99 teabags are set to become plastic-free by the end of the year

*I just learned there’s a difference between compostable and biodegradable; call me foolish but my mind is now blown.

Zero Waste washing-up: Tabitha Eve Co.

I’m revisiting this subject from part 2 because as I feared, my microfibre cloths idea isn’t quite as plastic-free as I’d hoped. At the moment, I am still using them for cleaning and dusting until they get past their best, at which point I’ll invest in some reusable bamboo cloths or cotton muslins, but when I saw Tabitha Eve Co. at Cardiff’s Riverside Market I couldn’t resist her ‘none sponge’s!

IMG_7053This mum of two started by taking the no straw stand with her much-beloved cocktails, then began to wonder where else she could make a difference around the home. Debbie decided to begin working from her studio in Cardiff with the aim to provide beautiful, handmade zero waste products that can convert people to living more eco-friendly and plastic free ways and has only been trading since December of last year, so it was a real bonus that I was able to support a new, local business as well as get some great products!

The ‘none sponge’s are simply bamboo material and cotton sewn together carefully (sourced from the UK as much as possible but otherwise Debbie scours the ‘net for sustainable alternatives, such as hand woven organic cotton by a cooperative in Kerala), these resemble washing up sponges without the unnecessary plastic and work great. They can be cut up and composted once done with, though it’s worth noting that fabrics do take longer to decompose than food so should be tucked into the middle of an actual compost heap rather than the food waste bin [what can go in the food waste bin can be found here]. Composting is something I’ve been meaning to look into further so I’ll come back to this point another day, but for now I’ll be using my parents’ compost heap as and when I visit home.

The point is, you need to check out this lady’s products because they’re gorgeous, natural and plastic free. [Her etsy is here in case you don’t have chance to catch her at the market!] I’ve also started using the cotton produce bags to store my loose fruit & veg in the cupboards, as a means of keeping potatoes apart from onions etc. in line with Love Food Hate Waste’s recommendations.

Wrapping it up

One of my closest & dearest friends was kind enough to send me some beeswax wraps IMG_6969after reading this series so far (I know, she’s a keeper) and I’ve been avidly using them as much as possible as I’ve heard good things – they even came with a lovely little note from Beeswax Wraps UK. So far I’ve tested them out for wrapping sandwiches and covering bowls of leftover food, they’ve worked a treat! Much better than nasty old clingfilm; natural, reusable, available in lots of pretty patterns – I urge you to invest as soon as your last roll of clingfilm runs out. They can also be home composted once worn out or you can even have a go at making some yourself, either using online tips or one of Tabitha Eve Co’s special kits which were on sale at Cardiff Market.

And finally, two things I’ve found to be absolutely key in sticking with sustainable changes:

  1. Investing in or rediscovering an old, larger handbag or small backpack is a great way to ensure you remember all your eco bits when out and about. As long as it has room for a reusable coffee cup, your bamboo straws, bags for life, a Tupperware container for those leftover bits at the end of a meal (or even for fresh fish or meat you get at the market), a refillable water bottle and ideally some reusable cutlery, you’re good to go. I’m yet to make a cutlery pouch myself but I’ve been keeping an eye on Zero Waste Cardiff’s Instagram how-to and am definitely keen to try!
  2. If you don’t ask, you don’t get. It might at first feel like you’re being a pain in the arse, but if you don’t ask the awkward questions you’ll never get a straight answer. Ask for the straw to be left out of your drink. Ask if you can have your water bottle refilled (this is actually your legal right in most premises). Ask if you can have your fresh fish/meat in your own tupperware instead of wrapped in plastic bags*. And what’s more, the more people ask then the more this kind of movement will grow and opinions begin to change.
    *I’m told Cardiff Indoor Market have answered yes to this question, though if you can’t always make it local I asked Asda and was told it shouldn’t be a problem as long as you have the sticker to scan!
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My backpack/handbag with (almost) all my eco essentials 🙂

Change really is happening guys, especially with new drinking water fountain/refill plans and a potential plastic straw ban following Scotland’s success, so don’t be afraid to get involved…

Diolch i chi a hwyl am nawr,

Charles xx

Saying goodbye to single-use plastic: Part 2

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Although time has passed since the first post of this series, the pressing plastic problem has not changed. There have been some more highlights in the news, including the introduction of more freely available tap water throughout England to encourage water bottle refills and reduce purchases of single-use bottled water, as well as several other political promises made; but nothing legally binding yet. Blue Planet 2 did, however, receive an ‘Impact’ award at the National TV Awards which recognised the significant increase in environmental awareness both in the hearts of the nation and the Houses of Parliament, since its release. Carrying this impact with us, we press on in the quest to Say Goodbye to Single-use Plastic.

Ways to end plastic pollution

Source: an article by Bolojawan.com

Although part 1 was published after Christmas, I didn’t want to overload it with too much info so in this part 2 I’ll talk about some of the things that helped make my Christmas a little more eco-friendly – although there’s still a long way to go. Following my 5 things to remember at Christmas post we were then lucky enough to receive a restaurant gift voucher from one of our family members which, in my opinion, is a perfect example of a thoughtful, zero waste present. What better time for a discounted date night than January in the post-Christmas blues?

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A shocking infographic showing the truth behind Christmas waste. Source: article by House Beautiful.

One thing that became apparent whilst opening presents was the sheer amount of waste that wrapping creates, considering that a lot of wrapping paper cannot be recycled as it’s reinforced with plastic and/or sprinkled with specs of glitter – side note: have you ever noticed that you use glitter once and then it never seems to go away? Yep, it’s a very harmful micro-plastic for that exact reason. Biodegradable glitter has in-fact been developed by ecoglitterfun but it will cost you a pretty penny so use it wisely (or avoid glitter altogether). I would say sorry to all the festival go-ers but I know that I was one IMG_4828myself this past year and I know for a fact that I wore glitter on my face at Glastonbury (pictured). This just goes to show, however, that these little changes do require time and effort but aren’t impossible. A group of Nurseries in the UK even banned glitter all together in their efforts to protect the environment, good job! Personally, the next time I go to some such festival I’ll factor in the extra money for eco-friendly glitter – or even chip in with a friend. I digress; the point is that looking at the huge pile of spent wrapping paper in front of us, my family and I agreed next year to abolish it and use newspaper, bags, tissue paper and string or even a nice fabric instead. Better still, focus more on intangible presents that don’t require wrapping.

As for eco-friendly presents, there were some handmade Welsh soaps wrapped in paper rather than plastic, several non-plastic kitchen bits including a bamboo chopping board, IMG_6930and a make-up removing cloth which, so far, has been my personal highlight and a real game-changer. My friend and I had this very conversation only a few months ago, wondering what we could do to eliminate the waste caused by our makeup wipes and cotton pads, yet here the answer was all along. There are a couple of different brands available now but mine is the Magnitone Wipeout and you literally just wet it with warm water and wipe (or rub) the make-up away (mine is very well used as you can see…) I was a little hesitant but it actually works a dream, even on thick eye makeup! I love it! Just goes in the wash with everything else when it needs a refresh.

Outside of Christmas, one of the things I wanted to talk about in this post is washing up. In the first post I talked about my coconut hair, biodegradable scourer and since then I’ve made a few other changes to my washing up routine – or, at least, tried. In terms of ditching the sponge, that I have done. I’ve employed the use of microfiber cloths I already had but wasn’t using, for washing up and general cleaning in place of sponges and kitchen roll (which, by the way, isn’t always recyclable so I’ve ditched that too. Same goes for tin foil.) This works really well and I can’t complain, although I am conscious that this may be a plastic fibre issue to tackle at some point down the line… let’s hope not.

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Attempt at homemade washing up liquid

As for washing up liquid, however, I was super keen to make my own after seeing several recipes online, as I talked about in part 1. When it came to it, sadly I’m not sure it made the cut (pictured above). In theory it’s a simple combination of soap, vinegar, water and some essential oils but in reality the lack of lather in comparison to the usual shop-bought washing up liquid made it hard to tell whether it was actually doing the job, and seeing my cutlery dry with soap spots was the final (non-plastic) straw for me. So unfortunately, we had to emergency swap back to normal for the time being, though we tried to pick one that’s supposed to last forever and ever until that annoying little kid on the advert wants to build his bloody toy rocket. At least he’s reusing.

Moving home recently was another opportunity to seek out eco-friendly/non-plastic alternatives to things normally bought for the house, such as making sure I bought a metal rack for the draining board (as oppose to the many plastic options out there) and hunting high and low for a suitable, sustainable foot stool (we are short people, we can’t reach the top cupboards). The perfect little footstool was finally found in TK Maxx – see photo below; I wanted a wooden one with character that we could keep forever and ever and, seeing as my boyfriend loves orcas, that’s exactly what I found!

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Our perfect, adorable orca stool 🙂

Time for another DIY project: homemade antibacterial spray. Antibac wipes are yes, very convenient but not only contain plastic fibres like many other types of wet/makeup wipe, they also get flushed down the toilet (for some reason completely unbeknown to me; they are NOT ‘flushable’, the packaging lies) and cause all kinds of drain blockages, bursts, contribute to littering and even help form ‘fatbergs’ as we’ve seen in the news IMG_6924because they do not decompose. Anyway, I kept aside a spray bottle of old antibac that would otherwise have been recycled and made up my concoction. This one works an absolute treat: water, white vinegar, lemon juice, lavender oil, tea tree oil. That’s all there was to it! Wine vinegar is a naturally brilliant cleaning agent especially for stainless steel and glass, whilst lavender and tea tree oils are naturally antibacterial and add a little extra scent to mask some of the vinegar. My boyfriend still thinks ours smells too vinegar-y, but it’s only when you’re actually spraying and wiping it down, once dry the odour doesn’t linger. Personally I’ve been loving using this spray and would recommend anyone to try it at home, it’s so simple and so effective! And amazing to know that you’re only using natural ingredients so there’s no itchy skin from chemicals afterwards (no nasty testing on animals either!).

There’s plenty more I could write here, but better save it for next time… The key points this time are:

  • Use up what you already have first to save waste, or perhaps even give it away
  • Dedicate a little time researching the best eco and plastic-free alternative (or, at least, single-use-plastic-free) and it will pay off
  • Take the opportunity to make a sustainable swap when it presents itself i.e. moving home or replacing something
  • Don’t be afraid to talk to others about this, not just friends & family but bars and restaurants. There are plenty out there looking to make a difference, which I’ll do a separate post about soon but The No Straw Stand is a good place to start.

If you’re still just starting out on your plastic-reduction journey, here’s an article from earthyandy on some small, simple steps to get going.

IMG_6876Also, update on the bamboo straw teething problems from last time: since making sure I always have one or two in my handbag it has become much easier to implement and I no longer fear making a fuss by asking specifically not to be given a straw with my drink. If I have more than one on me then usually a friend borrows one too, double-win. I recently got asked about them when putting my own straw in my drink at a bar, which just goes to show that interest can spread and there is hope for a Straw-Free Cardiff. More on this to come…

Do you have any advice on favourite eco-friendly products? Have you been trying to cut down on plastic and live more consciously too? Stay tuned for more next time! (And if you haven’t watched Blue Planet 2 yet, seriously what have you been doing?! Catch up here).

Diolch i chi a hwyl am nawr,

Charles xx

Note: none of the links in this article are sponsored.

Source for Featured Image: Justin Hofman photography.

Fun for many in Abergavenny: Food Festival 2016

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Festivals have become kind of a big deal lately, with all kinds of new themes and experiences popping up all over the place.  But to my mind, food festivals are firmly at the top of the must-do list.

There have already been several in South Wales catching my eye over the summer, including Cardiff International Food & Drink Festival back in July and the Street Food Circus at Sophia Gardens running through August & September (individual post to follow), yet Abergavenny Food Festival is the one I had heard so much about and had been buzzing to go have a gander.

 

Coming off the train, I had expected stewards in brightly-coloured t-shirts or high-vis vests to be leading the way; but instead, those of us arriving at Abergavenny train station had to follow the crowd and hope for the best.  This wasn’t exactly ideal; but after ten or so minutes, the bunting came clearly into view.  Immediately upon entering the main high street there was a soft buzz of excitement with people everywhere popping in and out of shops with smiles on their faces and goodies in their hands.  It was the kind of busy where everyone’s friendly, laid-back and there for a good time – as oppose to the sometimes stressful impatience of places like London – which lent a lovely welcoming community-feel to the event (and in my personal opinion, a very Welsh feel).

First stop was The Castle; or rather, queueing for The Castle which had at this point reached full capacity.  Of course my first thought was one of slight panic thinking of the uncomfortable closeness that ‘full capacity’ crowds tend to be, however, once inside I was relieved to discover that this was not the case at all.  Rather than overwhelming and congested it was cosy and intimate in what felt like a very special way, perhaps because of the natural romance of the historic castle setting itself and the gentle rays of sun that beamed down upon us (if only for about ten minutes…).  To my left was the well-renowned Cyrus Todiwala speaking at the Rude Health tent about the importance of buying local produce and supporting local businesses.  This is something, I, myself believe to be of great importance, especially as a geography graduate with a strong interest in encouraging sustainability.  The fact that this more localised and sustainable culture is becoming so widely embraced and encouraged restores my faith in humanity a little and certainly put a smile on my face if there wasn’t already.  I mean, all you have to do is walk around a food festival such as this to see that most of what’s on offer has been made right here in Wales and you’re instantly filled with a sense of pride and achievement.  It becomes clear that we can and do produce all we really need within our beautiful little country and I love to see that the awesome and impressive nature of this is being admired and appreciated by all.

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Cyrus Todiwala and his colleagues at Cafe Spice Namaste [photo credit: Abergavenny Food Festival Facebook page]

My only real criticism of the experience would be that I was disappointed not to see as many local breweries and craft beers as I expected or would’ve liked, although this may have just meant that I didn’t get around enough to take full note of the beverages on offer.  I did spot Tiny Rebel along the way, a brewery based in Newport (S Wales, of course!) with its own pub in Cardiff called Urban Taphouse as many of you may know.  Cwtch and One Inch Punch are mine and my father’s current favourites: a Welsh red ale which holds the title of Champion Beer of Britain 2015 and a Tiny IPA, both packed full of the iconic flavour and character this proud little brewing company are all about.  I’d also personally recommend Cali as a fan of American Pale Ales but the choice is up to you, I still have several more to try but well recommend a visit to Urban Taphouse if you’re a big into your funky local beers.

As a side note, if like me you love a well-done craft beer then Pipes in Pontcanna is the place to be; their Bar Open events tend to be on the first Saturday of every month, totally transforming its tiny little back lane courtyard into a buzzing bunting-laden social hub.  It’s an ideal place to spend your Saturday afternoon – but I digress.

Back to Abergavenny: my next stop was the food tent area just off the main high street which brought to life so many wild and wonderful smells.  It was like its own little paradise for a foodie like me, something different everywhere you looked.  What instantly caught my eye was Science Cream, a Cardiff-based company which not only creates its own ice creams fresh to order with natural ingredients, but freezes them in seconds right in-front of your eyes using liquid nitrogen.  This is truly a wonder to behold and was famously described as ‘an ice cream you must try before you die’ by Buzzfeed in 2015.  From ice cream sandwiches to banana splits, to thick shake sundaes and even butter fried pancakes you’re certainly spoilt for choice here.  Flavours range from the tantalising caramelised peanut butter and double shot chocolate to the exotic cherry coconut and rhubarb ripple, of course with a multitude of toppings to add on as well, if you want to go all out – and I mean why not, when in Rome, right?  Everyone needs a cheat day!

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An example of Science Cream’s concoctions – this wasn’t mine but I wish it was! [photo credit: Buzzfeed]

I resisted the urge to dive straight in with the sweet stuff on this occasion, however, and opted for a savoury treat as my first taster of the day: a Butternut Squash, Mixed Bean & Cheese pie from the award-winning Tom’s Pies; which, as Bruce Almighty would say, was B-E-A-utiful.  Hot butternut squash and beans for me is definitely one of the ultimate healthy comfort foods; so hearty and rich, yet still nutritious and filling.  The perfectly thin, crumbly pastry (which okay, obviously isn’t exactly healthy or nourishing but cheat day is a wonderful thing) made it all the more comforting and I thoroughly enjoyed every guilty mouthful!  I was also amazed and impressed to learn that Tom’s Pies have a “long standing relationship” with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage, according to their website.  Hugh is another chef I greatly admire for his work in sustainable farming and food practices, as well as his ongoing War on Waste campaign.  For this, I will forgive them for not being Welsh locals, as I had first assumed, later discovering that they are in fact a Devon-based company who have the absolute pleasure of being invited to all these fantastic food festivals and taste awards – twelve so far this year judging from their website! Living the dream if you ask me!

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I ate my pie too fast to take its picture, but the box was pretty so…

There was still much more to see, so off I went to explore the streets of Abergavenny itself where further food and craft stalls were dotted around all over the place, all teeming with more eager festival-goers.  Turning onto Nevill Street was a feast for the eyes, bright colours and fresh flavours everywhere from the mouth-watering stuffed olives of The Olive Press to the fiery-looking chillies and sauces of Fearless Flavour.

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An impressive spread from The Olive Press

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Taste the rainbow, as they say… looking good Fearless Flavour!

Past these, however, came what we’ve all been waiting for: the bakeries.  A quick taster from Isabel’s Bakehouse clearly demonstrated why they had a very successful weekend – they sold out both days!  But Chock Shop was where I couldn’t resist temptation and treated myself to a Banoffee Brownie… wow that was good.  A little sweeter than I would normally have liked, if I’m honest, but perhaps this was because I saved most of it until the next day when I was (of course) wallowing on the sofa in hungover self-pity.  I, also, have a weakness for meringues which worked well to the advantage of Flower & White Ltd… I know, I was naughty.  But surely you kind of have to be at food festivals, else you’ll only look at all the good food and not actually enjoy any of it!  And besides, their Lemon Meringue was a seriously guilty pleasure in the best way.  I regret nothing.

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Isabel’s Bakehouse stall on Nevill Street

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A fully-stocked Chock Shop! [photo credit: Abergavenny Food Festival Facebook page]

This brings me to the end of my weekend adventures, as far as the food festival is concerned anyway.  The wide ranging variety of products and produce on offer, in addition to the guest speakers, live music and interactive sessions, meant that there was something fun for everyone at Abergavenny Food Festival.  The beauty and charm of the town itself also makes it a lovely place to visit any other time of year for a day’s mooching around the shops and cafés.  I can confidently say it was well worth a visit.  I had a great time!  And I will definitely be returning next year.

Diolch i chi a hwyl am nawr,

Charles xx