Glad to see even the smallest of Chinese towns has a bakery that sells loose biscuits. Shame about the bags. Seems we are the only people in China not using plastic bags. What happened to the bag ban then?

And yet despite their love affair with plastic, it is possible to live waste free in China. You can get loose cakes and biscuits, seeds and nuts from market stalls and really good bakeries. Even some supermarkets will sell them unpackaged by weight. Actually they sell a lot of stuff loose too, beans, flour and rice – but that may be of less use to the backpacker.

You need to take your own bags be prepared for confusion and a lot of giggling! That is why we travel with an ancient Chico bag and some produce bags. I bought these bags when I first started my plastic boycott in 2007. Since then they have been all round the world with us cutting plastic all the way.

This post is my contribution to Zero Waste Week (‪#ZerowasteWeek) the brainchild of Rae Straus (also featured in our P-f U.K. directory). Each day, for 7 days, we will feature a tip to help you eat, drink and – ermmm – excrete in the most sustainable and rubbish free- way, backpacking kind of way. Each post will appear up on our advent calender of trash free tips. See them there.