Sustainable Milk Containers

How much thought are you giving to your milk purchases? You should be thinking about your milk, both for the sake of your health and the environment.

First of all, containers aside, milk is one of the foods that should be on your ONLY buy organic list. Organic milk (and all dairy products made with organic milk) won’t contain antibiotics, pesticides, or synthetic hormones, among other junk you don’t need in your body. Of course some folks think that organic milk doesn’t win out over conventional; that’s a choice you need to make on your own. However, no matter the milk you buy, the packaging does matter.

Glass or biodegradable packaging is best: Sadly, these are the least likely types of milk packaging you’ll see at stores. However, if your store sells milk in glass, it’s a good option (if you recycle). One UK company is making biodegradable milk cartons now (with cardboard and corn starch) and hopefully more companies will follow suit.

Plastic Jugs: Plastic milk jugs aren’t the best option, mainly because while they can be recycled, very few families are doing so religiously. Plastics overall, according to the EPA are seriously under recycled. Bad news considering that all you have to do is toss the jug into your bin.

Waxed paper milk cartons: Because of the mixed quality of these cartons it might seem like you can’t recycle them but you can. The catch is that you have to live in an area that has milk carton recycling. It’s not a universal practice. Check and see if you can recycle them in your community. If so, go for it, but if not, avoid buying them.

Shape matters: The shape of milk container you buy does matter. Shape can affect shipping costs, amount of gas used, and recycling rates. To learn about one remade milk jug, and the benefits (plus a few handling cons) read this New York Times piece; Solution, or Mess? A Milk Jug for a Green Earth.

The final deal: Mainly there is no perfect milk container (minus the cow) that’s universally used. If everyone made and purchased biodegradable containers it’d be one thing, but that’s not a reality. What the sustainable milk carton comes down to for most of us, is what you do with it once it’s empty; which of course means you need to recycle it.

To learn more about organic milk choices read the Dairy Scorecard.

[image via stock.xchng]