After an extensive amount of research, and much frustration I have come to the conclusion that I (personally) have very little choice but to continue to buy the 4 pints / 2.272 litre plastic bottles of milk from the supermarket.
Glass bottles are ruled out
Firstly, I suffer from blackouts without warning. These occur 2.3 times a week on average, and often leave me with injuries. In the past I have had 38 stitches in my leg after blacking out with a cup of coffee (hence using KeepCups around my home). If I purchased glass bottles of milk, I would be putting my personal safety at risk.
Secondly, I go through 4 pints of milk a day – I work from home, drink Lattes and glasses of milk, put it on my cereal at breakfast in addition to regularly using it in my baking and cooking. There would simply not be enough room in my fridge to house this many bottles on a bi-weekly basis if delivered, and the impact of carbon emissions for more frequent deliveries needs to be taken into consideration.
UHT Milk … Urgh
UHT milk tastes terrible on its own or on cereal…. I simply consume too much milk to make this feasible, and additional storage would have to be found.
Dairy-Free Alternatives
I intend to introduce some dairy-free alternatives to my routine, in order to reduce the plastic bottle quantity. There are numerous alternatives available in cartons in the supermarkets:
- Almond
- Cashew
- Coconut
- Hazelnut
- Oat
- Rice
However, in my experience to date, the alternatives cannot be heated, so Lattes may become difficult and I find (even the unsweetened) too sweet…. further research required!
Up-Cycling Opportunities
In the mean-time, I am going to keep looking for up-cycling ideas for the plastic bottles – I am certain that I could not find a use for ALL of them, but any up-cycling would be an advantage here! These could include:
- Herb Gardens / Small Planters
- Storage Jars
- A “Scoop”
- ….
… I will let you know when I come up with more – there will almost certainly be a future post on this!
