Ditch the plastic milk bottles … find out how
There are many things households can do to reduce the amount of plastic going into our waste systems and the environment. Using cloth shopping bags, buying deli items in biodegradable containers or using your own, refilling your own containers from bulk suppliers like Hill Street Sandy Bay, choosing produce that isn’t wrapped in plastic, and using a keep cup are all good ways to keep plastic out of your house and out of the system. But until recently, if your family drank milk (and, milk allergies aside, most families do) there was little you could do to avoid purchasing those 2L plastic bottles. These single-use plastic bottles, even when disposed of appropriately, increase pressure on an already overloaded (and in some cases, ineffectual) recycling system. If they don’t make it to recycling, that plastic is unfortunately going into landfill or our waterways.
But all that is changing – at least at Hill Street. At some of our stores across Tasmania, we now have milk on tap which you can take home in refillable glass bottles. This is high-quality, full cream, pasteurised and non-homogenised milk from Tassie dairies, all available at the push of a button from our self-service milk stations.
Where can I get it?
Our Sandy Bay, Blackmans Bay and Dodges Ferry stores stock Bream Creak Dairy full cream milk on tap.
How does it work?
Buy a reusable glass bottle for $2, press the button on the tap of the milk station, and fill up with fresh, top-quality milk. Put on the lid and take note of the use-by date displayed on the milk station (perhaps take a photo of it with your phone). When you need to refill, bring your clean, dry bottles into the store and simply refill.
Sure, but doesn’t this fancy milk cost a lot?
No. Pricing for milk bought from our milk stations is competitive – purchase a reusable glass bottle for $2 and your Ashgrove milk will cost $2.40 for 750ml, $2.85 for 1L and $5.50 for 2L. Bream Creek costs $2.50 for 750ml and $2.90 for 1L.
How many plastic bottles have been kept out of circulation?
With a few hundred litres of milk per week sold by each store since July when our first milk stations were installed, we estimate at least 10,000 2L plastic bottles will have been kept out of the waste system in the first 3 months of operation alone.
That’s a huge achievement – thank you to those communities who have embraced these changes so enthusiastically!
