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It's already happened in Canada. It's in the process of happening in Great Britain. I wonder if it will ever happen in the U.S.? I am referring to changing the packaging for milk containers. In Canada and England (anywhere else?), milk can now be purchased in more environmentally friendly bags rather than plastic bottles.Currently, most of the bottles used for milk are tossed into the garbage rather than be recycled. Add to that they're made of a high density polyethylene, which can be recycled albeit mainly in China. The bags use 75% less plastic than do the bottles we're currently used to. Less packaging means less waste.
The milk bags are easily stored, too. You just have to get any kind of reusable pitcher, or similar container. When you bring home your fresh bag of milk, simply empty the contents into your pitcher and store it in the fridge.
The bag of milk is a neat new concept. I think that if we're serious about reducing our impact on this planet, this may be a good change to make. I know it seems kind of weird, but it's not that different from our current milk containers. Also, it's not a big sacrifice. I put lots of products into a permanent container once I get it home. So here's to the bag of milk: may you be universally accepted in the near future and stick around far into it.
[Via ColdMud]
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2-07-2008 @5:31PM Chewy said... Paper=Wood=Trees=Renewable Resource=Biodegradable=GOOD
Plastic=Petroleum=Oil=Non-Renewable Resource=Non-Biodegradable=BAD
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2-07-2008 @10:13PM Gabriel said... Yup, I grew up on Milk in a Bag in Lima, Ohio. Haven't had it since the mid-1980's.
From what I remember, the bag was the equivalent plastic quality of a freezer-strength ziploc bag. It was sealed on all four sides (did not have a ziploc opening). You snipped off a corner and slid the opened plastic in a slit in the spout of the pitcher to hold the bag upright while it sat in the fridge.
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2-07-2008 @6:13PM Iridium said... With a gallon of Milk running higher than $3 a gallon in most places in the USA I'll take my nice convenient plastic jug with a handle and screw on cap, thank you.
Unless all milk producers switched to bags, only a very small percentage of people would buy them if there was a jug sitting next to them.
Convenience trumps enviromentaly friendly I'm afraid.
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2-07-2008 @7:13PM boisro said... I remember visiting my grandparents in Michigan in the 80s, and they had milk in plastic bags from Quality Dairy. They just placed the bags in special pitchers and cut the corner off. But, due to lack of demand, QD stopped production. So, this is by no means a new idea, even in the US.
My only concern about bags is the milk acquiring flavors from other food in the fridge. Perhaps some kind of re-sealable corner on the bag?
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2-07-2008 @10:08PM Penny said... Honestly, we had this in Oregon in the 1970's. You got a plastic "pitcher" with your first purchase then you just put the plastic bag into the pitcher and snipped the corner off the milk bag and poured. I've often wished they'd come back. However - that plastic isn't biodegradable. Maybe we should stick with the paper cartons after all.
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2-07-2008 @10:59PM jb said... in China, milk has come in a bag for as long as I can remember. i think it's a third world thing.
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2-08-2008 @1:47AM Eric said... Penny:
That's exactly what I was thinking. At least one of the coast's local dairies did it (Seppa) and I suspect at least one of the bigger Portland ones did too.
It's possible that they're building UV filters into the plastic to reduce the off tastes from light exposure. At least I hope so. The best way to package milk remains an opaque package. Google around about light and milk and you'll see how quickly light degrades milk sensory quality.
E
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2-08-2008 @8:51AM Shannon said... I prefer my local dairy's solution. Buy milk in glass bottle. Drink milk. Bring glass bottle back to store and collect refund. Dairy reuses bottle. Buy milk in glass bottle. Repeat as necessary.
I will avoid plastic food packaging any time I can.
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2-08-2008 @9:14AM Deborah said... "Bag O Milk" has been the way to go in Israel since the country was founded. Only recently, with all the American immigrants, did they start carrying "American" milk in bottles and cartons. Not only that, but they have "Shoko B'sakit" - chocolate milk in a little snack-size baggie. Kids bite off the corner of the bag and slurp it right out of the bag.
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2-08-2008 @3:21PM Dartssnake said... CHEWY SAID:Paper=Wood=Trees=Renewable Resource=Biodegradable=GOOD
Plastic=Petroleum=Oil=Non-Renewable Resource=Non-Biodegradable=BAD
This argument and others like it are the downfall of any environmental initiative... use more trees (which some people see as irreplaceable) or no trees (whereby you must use recyclable plastics)= IMPASSE!
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2-08-2008 @9:48PM Bitch-Face Jones said... Rumor has it that they have these things made out of highly biodegradable paperboard called "milk cartons"
look into it
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2-10-2008 @5:36PM Amelia said... I had a similar thing while I was in school. Our cafeteria handed out milk (individual) bags for lunch. They worked great, with you drinking out of a straw like a box drink. I know boxed milk lasts longer than clear plastic, would the milk spoil faster?
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2-15-2008 @7:36PM Perciba said... We used to have plastic bags for milk here too, in the 70s. They had special reusable plasic containers that you slipped the bag into, so you could snip the top off the bag without it spilling. Whateer happened to them? I say let's bring them back
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