4 ms·

It feels like we need to go back to where we were (in the UK anyway) when I was growing up - milk delivered in glass bottles which then get collected and steril

by Nursie 3y ago

It feels like we need to go back to where we were (in the UK anyway) when I was growing up - milk delivered in glass bottles which then get collected and sterilised for re-use and/or recycled into more glass. The old-fashioned milkman was even way ahead of the crowd in terms of fuel use, they had low-speed electric vehicles dating back as far as the 1930s (if I'm reading the wikipedia article right). Environmentally friendly all round, though labour-inefficient I guess. And as much as any cow-related product can be environmentally friendly...

goda90 3y ago
There's a couple of brands of glass bottled milk in my region of the US. There's a deposit at the grocery store and then you gotta talk every cashier through the whole concept when you try to cover it with an old bottle.
- Nursie 3y ago
  That sounds a little annoying! But in general it sounds like a decent scheme. People are slowly getting trained to take their own bags to grocery stores/supermarkets here in Aus and in the UK, as the old single-use plastic shopping bags have been outlawed and they charge for paper or good quality re-usables. (Is that happening in the US?) I'm not sure if I could see it taking off for containers in general, but maybe for milk it could.
  - jacknews 3y ago
    But plastic bags use minuscule amounts of plastic, and are not single-use by a long shot - I use them for waste-paper bins bags, planters, dividers inside larger bags, etc, etc. The most egregious plastic polluters are the cosmetics and detergent companies. Those would really make sense in bags; no worries about plastic in your diet, etc, and eg those shampoo bottles, especially the ones with pump dispensers, are an outrageous orgy of waste.
    - Nursie 3y ago
      Not really an argument I was looking to get into today, the fact is that they are being restricted in multiple countries (the UK has introduced a 10p per bag charge rather than a ban, that appears to have achieved a 75-80% reduction), and because of the restrictions behaviour is changing, which may pave the way for other behaviour changes like the reuse of glass. Both the UK and Australia are taking action on microplastics as well, though both have a way to go. Australia has an overall plastics plan that aims to address a lot of single-use plastic problems, including takeaway containers, the packaging you mention etc etc.
- bombcar 3y ago
  Two stores sell glass milk (same milk) like that around here. One would just not charge the deposit if you gave them a bottle (the Ace hardware, natch) - the other had a complicated refund process involving the customer service desk, quite a hassle.

by Nursie 3y ago

goda90 3y ago

There's a couple of brands of glass bottled milk in my region of the US. There's a deposit at the grocery store and then you gotta talk every cashier through the whole concept when you try to cover it with an old bottle.

Nursie 3y ago
That sounds a little annoying! But in general it sounds like a decent scheme. People are slowly getting trained to take their own bags to grocery stores/supermarkets here in Aus and in the UK, as the old single-use plastic shopping bags have been outlawed and they charge for paper or good quality re-usables. (Is that happening in the US?) I'm not sure if I could see it taking off for containers in general, but maybe for milk it could.
- jacknews 3y ago
  But plastic bags use minuscule amounts of plastic, and are not single-use by a long shot - I use them for waste-paper bins bags, planters, dividers inside larger bags, etc, etc. The most egregious plastic polluters are the cosmetics and detergent companies. Those would really make sense in bags; no worries about plastic in your diet, etc, and eg those shampoo bottles, especially the ones with pump dispensers, are an outrageous orgy of waste.
  - Nursie 3y ago
    Not really an argument I was looking to get into today, the fact is that they are being restricted in multiple countries (the UK has introduced a 10p per bag charge rather than a ban, that appears to have achieved a 75-80% reduction), and because of the restrictions behaviour is changing, which may pave the way for other behaviour changes like the reuse of glass. Both the UK and Australia are taking action on microplastics as well, though both have a way to go. Australia has an overall plastics plan that aims to address a lot of single-use plastic problems, including takeaway containers, the packaging you mention etc etc.
bombcar 3y ago
Two stores sell glass milk (same milk) like that around here. One would just not charge the deposit if you gave them a bottle (the Ace hardware, natch) - the other had a complicated refund process involving the customer service desk, quite a hassle.