"environmentally friendly" news and stories

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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Recently General Mills, the maker of Hamburger Helper, announced that they were going to do their part to save the planet by straightening out the noodles in boxes of Hamburger Helper. Their thinking was that smoother noodles will take up less packaging because they settle together more easily. That will in turn make it possible for them to make the boxes smaller and then move more HH in each shipment. Problem solved!

The folks over at the Environmental News Network have a bone to pick with General Mills. They say that tweaking the shape of the noodles will not have a significant impact on the health of the environment. ENN argues that until large companies like General Mills take a holistic look at what they make, how they make it and what they make it with, they won't have more than a drop of impact in the bucket of sustainability.

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