this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2024
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Changing consumer habits could spell the end of bagged milk (ottawa.ctvnews.ca)
submitted 9 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
179 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

"Consumption of milk per capita has gone down every year over the last 30 years," says Sylvain Charlebois, director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University. "Actually, it's gone down by more than 20 per cent since 2015."

While bagged milk is often cited as a unique Canadianism, it's actually not sold west of Ontario. Those who prefer it, however, say it's more cost efficient and some even believe it tastes better.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 9 months ago (3 children)

I love bagged milk, but I can't go through THREE FUCKING BAGS as a family of two.

They're more eco-friendly than the box or the jug, but I guess that goes against the goal of consuming more raw materials.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 9 months ago (1 children)

More eco-friendly? Where I am we can’t recycle any of the bags whereas the box and jug we can.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 9 months ago

It's worth remembering that being accepted in a blue bag and actually being recycled are two very different things. Much of the plastic we've "recycled" over the years just ended up in landfills in China.

Remember the old "Where does it go?" "Away," PSAs from the late '80s and early '90s? Well, plastic recycling has been that, but at an industrial scale.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 9 months ago (1 children)

To repeat: plastic bagged milk is more eco-friendly than cardboard?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Yes, the plastic is quite thin and requires less power to recycle than the waxed cardboard or thick plastic jugs, if your recycling ends up recycled at all.

[–] Patches 13 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

If your recycling ends up recycled at all.

Big if

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I'll back you up with a source since I just went down this rabbit hole on another comment https://www.dal.ca/news/2021/11/29/milk-jugs--cartons-or-plastic-bags---which-one-is-best-for-the-e.html

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Thank you, good read! I just remember finding out a while ago that it was better than the environment (and it does make sense given how little plastic is used), but couldn't find the source again.

With this new information, will consumers swing over to milk bags? Bagged milk is sold only in four-litre allotments in Canada, which may be too much for some consumers, leading to unconsumed or spoiled milk. This would wipe out any environmental benefits.

Precisely my concern above hahah, I don't see why they can't be sold individually with a little stamp on them stating the brand, the quantity and the percentage. We don't really drink milk, we only use it for cooking and hot beverages.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

In Canada the energy costs are less important than the plastic waste as the majority of our electricity comes from hydro or nuclear.

And the plastic IS waste, "recycled" plastic can only make up a tiny faction of newly manufacture products and most waste is rejected anyway because it's not "clean" plastic.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Also, the cardboard hasn't been waxed in years. It's plastic lined

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

As a family of 5, we go through it easily in a week.