Comments on: Milk in a Bag http://www.peat.me.uk/2008/06/11/milk-in-a-bag/ Thoughts from, and the lives of a Canadian and a Brit living in Southern England. Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:04:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Charles Krause http://www.peat.me.uk/2008/06/11/milk-in-a-bag/comment-page-1/#comment-25401 Charles Krause Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:04:08 +0000 http://www.peat.me.uk/?p=1703#comment-25401 Indeed "milk in a bag" is an old Canadian custom. It is quite a bit less expensive - but much more of a hassle. The reusable jug system only works somewhat; I find that a half-empty bag tends to fold down into the pitcher and has to be fished out prior to pouring to prevent a mess, or at least a badly aimed milk stream. I typically tend to transfer my milk into reused 2L soda bottles via a funnel. As for glass milk bottles - it does seem intuitively obvious that they would be better. After a little thought, I'm not sure. You're always going to have a percentage lost each use cycle, they cost much more (would you accept increases in milk prices to have glass bottles?) and I think the environmental costs of creating them are quite high, actually; it does require a high-temperature facility. That said, they have almost zero environmental impact for disposable as they're just melted sand. All that said, I'd have to see some serious study as to what the complete environmental/economic impacts of each approach would be before I could say one way or another, and it wouldn't surprise me if either way was more or less "environmentally friendly". Indeed “milk in a bag” is an old Canadian custom. It is quite a bit less expensive – but much more of a hassle. The reusable jug system only works somewhat; I find that a half-empty bag tends to fold down into the pitcher and has to be fished out prior to pouring to prevent a mess, or at least a badly aimed milk stream. I typically tend to transfer my milk into reused 2L soda bottles via a funnel.

As for glass milk bottles – it does seem intuitively obvious that they would be better. After a little thought, I’m not sure. You’re always going to have a percentage lost each use cycle, they cost much more (would you accept increases in milk prices to have glass bottles?) and I think the environmental costs of creating them are quite high, actually; it does require a high-temperature facility. That said, they have almost zero environmental impact for disposable as they’re just melted sand.

All that said, I’d have to see some serious study as to what the complete environmental/economic impacts of each approach would be before I could say one way or another, and it wouldn’t surprise me if either way was more or less “environmentally friendly”.

]]> By: Richard http://www.peat.me.uk/2008/06/11/milk-in-a-bag/comment-page-1/#comment-25399 Richard Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:35:09 +0000 http://www.peat.me.uk/?p=1703#comment-25399 The news this morning said it was quite common in Europe as well - but certainly it's a big enough change to have made the national news in the UK. The news this morning said it was quite common in Europe as well – but certainly it’s a big enough change to have made the national news in the UK.

]]> By: Jon Tackabury http://www.peat.me.uk/2008/06/11/milk-in-a-bag/comment-page-1/#comment-25398 Jon Tackabury Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:27:18 +0000 http://www.peat.me.uk/?p=1703#comment-25398 In Canada (at least where I live) milk in a bag is the dominant way milk is distributed. It's been like this every since I can remember (although I'm not ancient) and it just seems very normal to me. Although the milk bags are recyclable, there are some other things we have learned to do with them to prevent them from having to be processed. My wife and I save up the milk bags all year and we use them to freeze corn, strawberries and other things in them. They make great freezer bags as they are thick and strong. Also, they make great bags for packing things in the kids lunches, like cookies or sandwiches. In Canada (at least where I live) milk in a bag is the dominant way milk is distributed. It’s been like this every since I can remember (although I’m not ancient) and it just seems very normal to me. Although the milk bags are recyclable, there are some other things we have learned to do with them to prevent them from having to be processed. My wife and I save up the milk bags all year and we use them to freeze corn, strawberries and other things in them. They make great freezer bags as they are thick and strong. Also, they make great bags for packing things in the kids lunches, like cookies or sandwiches.

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