I bought a quart of milk in a glass bottle, and while I know milk-the-old-way is a thing – a Whole Foods/local dairy thing that has been around for a while – this was my first indulgence in glass in a very long time. The $2.99 purchase caused me to stop and think – because I apparently have not been depressed enough lately – about all the plastic jugs my household has used over the years in the consumption of milk.
The deal with Homestead Dairy is this: When the milk is gone, wash out the bottle and return it to the store next time you go. "All you'll need to do is bring your bottles through the checkout line or to the customer service desk," the dairy says. "They'll either provide you with a cash refund or take money off of whatever else you're buying."
It takes extra effort, but the opportunities are there to go eco-retro.
So I think I could get in the habit of taking empty milk bottles back to the store, though, of course, that process is not as convenient as what I grew up with – the old way, the Charlie Leland way. Charlie had a great dairy farm in East Bridgewater, my hometown on the South Shore of Massachusetts, and he delivered fresh milk to our door, always in glass. He picked up the empties with every delivery. We used to do the same with soda bottles – though, where I come from, all soda was "tonic" – and, for each bottle, a nickel came back. A few states – unfortunately, not Maryland – still do it that way.
But, of course, the hydrocarbon-based polymeric juggernaut arrived and the rest is history: We've been overwhelmed by plastic, and the planet has not been the same since.
I'm not much for nostalgia, but there are pieces of the old days and the old ways we should have kept because they were sound practices, a wise conservatism that suited every household and lifestyle – one car per family, using mass transit when possible, preserving local farming and patronizing the local farmer, and getting our milk in glass bottles.
No comments:
Post a Comment