A wooden cooking fork

I am not a luddite. I like my modern technology. I like computers and digital cameras, with their silicon and long-life rechargeable batteries and scratch-resistant screens.

But in more physical everyday activities I notice that old-school natural materials are still far superior to anything that two hundred years of industrialisation and modern chemistry and technological progress can produce.

Fabric shopping bags are better than plastic bags. Quite apart from any environmental concerns, they are just much more comfortable. The handles are soft and don’t cut into my fingers. They are strong. They have and hold a shape so they are easier to pack.

For cooking, nothing compares to a wooden spoon, and wooden cooking forks are awesome too. Wood is sturdier and more heat tolerant than plastic, softer and warmer than metal. For stirring cake batter, mashed potatoes or a bean casserole – anything that requires serious stirring – only a wooden spoon will do.

Wicker baskets are irreplaceable. My small basket for gardening tools is soft and warm and pleasant to hold. A bit of moisture and soil will not make it rust; years of exposure to sunlight will not weaken it. Dust and crumbs of earth fall through the cracks at the bottom.

Wooden chairs. Straw hats. Terracotta flower pots.