“Next time, I’m either not sitting outside or not ordering wine. I say this not to admonish Snapper & Co, but to remind myself that every individual has got to take more responsibility for the waste they create,” writes wine columnist RICHARD CALVER. 

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about garbage, in part fuelled by my reading of Edward Hume’s book Total Garbage. 

I know some people would say my thoughts are themselves often garbage, but I’m actually referring to the waste we generate. 

In the complex where I live, there is no ability to set aside food waste for composting or recycling, as it is possible to do at my place in Tathra: the waste goes in the green bin.

We all have to do more to reduce waste and it would be good if the organic material produced by the residents of the complex could be recycled.

That is one of my many wishes for improvement in the waste area. Plus, it is clear that food scraps can throw a spanner in the works of recycling. Too many food scraps can contaminate recyclable materials with the worst case being where food mixes through what could otherwise be recycled, the whole lot goes to landfill.

On this topic, Hume points to the ongoing problem thus: “We live in the most wasteful civilisation in history. This goes way beyond what we roll to the curb each week. It’s rooted in what we eat and drink and how we cook. 

“Waste is the main thing you pay for in your utility bills and at the gas pump. Forty per cent of our food becomes garbage.” Micro-plastic trash is now in everything around us as well as in us – we are consuming a credit card’s worth of plastic every week!

His point about plastic came to reality at a recent lunch at Snapper & Co by the Lake at Yarralumla. 

The day was winter cold but energising in the sun. After a lake walk, we decided to have our fish and chips outside. I ordered a 2021 DeBortoli Regional Classic Tumbarumba Chardonnay to go with the fish and chips: enough acidity to cut through the oily fish but enough of a flavour profile to not be subsumed into the taste of the meal.

This is despite the fact that this wine has a soft lemon curd-like front palate; it finishes cleanly with light acid and a hint of brioche. It was $52 from the restaurant; it sells for a nudge over $22 from various wine sites on the web. I’d tasted it previously and it is, when purchased via the web, an excellent value-for-money wine. 

But the person selling the wine at Snapper & Co would only give us plastic glasses as we decided to sit outside in the marvellous winter sunshine.

I asked if we could have glass, understanding the public safety issues the venue confronted: glasses were available to patrons who sat inside. The rule that if you’re outside you only get plastic is set in concrete, like the surface under most tables: if you’re outside, the water and other beverage containers are required to be plastic.

We therefore had four plastic containers sitting on the table and used plastic knives and forks to eat the meal.

The taste of the wine was definitely different in plastic; it changed the mouthfeel in particular. Next time, I’m either not sitting outside or not ordering wine. I say this not to admonish Snapper & Co, but to remind myself that every individual has got to take more responsibility for the waste they create. 

To end, I had a joke about recycling but it’s already bin used.