3 Reasons to try Milk in a Glass Bottle
You may have seen milk in glass bottles at Niagara Produce, and wondered what the difference is between glass bottles and plastic or cardboard carton milk. They are different, and you should see if glass bottle milk is right for you! Here are three reasons to give it a try.
- It’s environmentally friendly
An EPA study said that refillable glass bottles use about half as much energy during their life cycle, compared to plastic or carton containers. This is despite the fact that glass actually takes more energy to produce in the first place. How is this possible? Glass is re-usable! To re-use glass milk bottles, you just have to clean out and sterilize the bottle, which is quick and easy. For plastic containers, the recycling process is much more involved, and many people don’t recycle them at all. Reusing glass bottles keeps landfills from filling up, and every re-use uses less energy than making a new plastic jug or carton.
- Nostalgia!
Milk was first sold in glass bottles in 1879. That was the year Edison first successfully tested the light bulb. Many in Western New York still have the milk delivery doors in their house, which originally allowed the milk man to drop off milk without going inside, and allowed customers to receive the milk without going outside. Many remember the milkman coming to their house when they were younger, and they remember how delicious the milk was back then. Milk in glass bottles reminds us of simpler times. The milkman is still remembered in popular culture, but the job has mostly gone away. As recently as 1963, almost 30% of households had milk delivered, but that number dropped all the way down to .4% in 2005.
- It tastes great!
The real reason you should try milk in a glass bottle is that it’s delicious! You have to try it to know how delicious it is. There may be a scientific reason for this: Flavor can be affected by the container. It won’t make it less safe or less drinkable, but it can make it taste slightly different. This is the same reason why Pepsi or beer from a can taste different than Pepsi or beer in a bottle. Glass is non-porous and non-reactive so nothing from the container interacts with the milk inside. All you taste is pure, delicious milk! If you haven’t had milk from a glass container yet, try it this week!
