"environmentallyfriendly" 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]

Source

In today’s NY Times, Julie Besonen and Andrea Kannapell give readers some tips for how to maintain a ‘green’ kitchen in an urban environment. Unfortunately, the pair ditch the idea of home vermiculture in the third sentence. Their tip for keeping an uncluttered refrigerator is also curious, as it totally overlooks the fact that an uncluttered fridge is more energy efficient. Still, there are some good suggestions about not being wasteful in the kitchen—saving and freezing vegetable and meat scraps to make stock, or freezing leftover wine for sauces. Their points are valid, but much of the article seems to be more about thrift and neighborliness than environmental concern.