On the sixth day of my zero-waste lifestyle plan, I opened my work bag and the smell of old gym socks wafted out. I took the homemade wet wipes out of their pouch, gave them a sniff, and was reminded of canals at high tide. These need a daily rinse and dry, but I had missed a day or two, so my backpack began emitting the vapours of a sarcophagus.

Until that point, I was congratulating myself for doing a fantastic job at saving the planet. In six days, I had not used a single disposable item - no chopsticks, plastic cutlery, foam food boxes, disposable drink containers or plastic shopping bags.