apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

even if it's not 'green', it's definitely more efficient. that's a good thing.

According to article the new bottle shapes allows them to cut the number of deliveries in half and eliminating the water used to wash crates that transport the old milk carton design is resulting in 60 -70% less water use. These changes make it inherently greener regardless of what is driving the change.

The Styrofoam cups in the photo aren't very green? Who ever drinks milk in a Styrofoam cup? But seriously, using these new jusgs saves water, but it also creates waste because of the cardboard and plastic used to ship the new bottles can't be reused, unlike the milk crates. I wonder how much water, energy etc. goes into making the cardboard and plastic, and how much is recycled? The card board likely is, but I don't know about the plastic. I think the new jugs are mostly a good idea, but I am not 100% convinced.

All Sam's Clubs recycle plastic shrink wrap, cardboard, plastic bottles, and most other recyclable materials in what's called a Super Sandwich Bale.

You can read more about it at the end of this article.
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/03/19/8402369/index2.htm

Our Costco (St. Louis area) has had them for a while now. They're a trip to see in the stores.

They appear to be shipped on a large cardboard flat. We like them and as long as the carton can still be recycled, i'm all for it. The downside is that you are practically crawling into the fridge case to get them out because the flats tehy're shipped on are so massive.

The pic is probably showing samples at one of the wholesale warehouses.... which is fodder for a whole different rant on waste and lollygagging.

i like organic milk's cartons

They have had those cartons at our Costco in Seattle for at least six months now. They are TERRIBLE. They might fit in the door better, but they are so so awful to pour and no matter how hard you try or fast/slow/precise you pour...you ALWAYS spill milk on the table/counter/etc. Based on what you said and what I saw on the Today show the other morning, it looks like lots of people have trouble with this.

I think they look better but then again I am not a dairy drinker! I'll ask my Dad how he likes those new milk jugs since he's the milk drinker in the house.

The idea for these new containers is not really new- rectangular packaging has been used for juices, soy milk, and even wine.

This particular container definitely needs a re-disign of the opening. I'm surprised that this is the one that made it to market. The spillage makes one wonder how much consumer testing was done on it.

Cheers to the price per gallon being 10-20 cents lower & passed on to the consumer. Now, if the milk were organic, that would be even better.

efficient IS green...

and remember this is generation 1 for a major redesign... they will get better.

I spend part of the summer in Canada and think their milk container system is even better than this. They sell their milk in thin plastic bags. Everyone has reusable pitchers designed to holds a bag and you snip off the corner and pour. When it's empty, you thow out the baggie that's 1/2 the size of a gallon ziploc rather than a large hard plastic container.

Who's drinking milk these days? Dairy farms damage the environment so terribly. I'm surprised to see so much mention of animal agriculture, as if it WERE NOT contributing to water pollution, soil erosion, and greenhouse gases, on a site that's supposed to be "green".