Here Comes the Milkman

One bad plastic habit that is on my list to break is that of buying gallons of milk in plastic jugs, which I do try to recycle but I'd like to use as little plastic as I can, and reducing waste is better than trying to recycle everything. The only plastic-free alternative is to buy milk in glass jars, which I hear tastes a lot better. (The cardboard cartons sometimes use plastic linings and often can't be recycled.) But is it worth the inconvenience of returning all those jugs and paying a higher price for milk that is already so expensive? How much more expensive is it really? I did a little research at my local co-op to find out.

Buying Local:
$3.99 for one gallon, in a plastic jug, of locally produced 1% milk.
This is what I have been buying so far. (I'm pretty sure I could get a brand name gallon for about $3.49 at the Big Box Supermarket, but I don't shop there much anymore and I like to support local farmers when I can.)

Buying Organic:
$6.99 for one gallon, in a plastic jug, of certified organic 1% milk.

Silk Vanilla Soymilk:
$3.79 for a half gallon in a carton.
($7.58 per gallon.)

Buying in Glass:
$3.69 for a half gallon glass jar of locally produced 1% milk, delivered by the farmer's sons.
-$1.50 deposit for returning the jar.
Total: $2.19 for a half gallon, or $4.38 per gallon.

The result? Silk Soymilk is by far the most expensive, with Organic coming in a close second at $3.00 more than the local milk I'm buying now, while milk in glass jars is only 39 cents more per gallon! I admit, I was pleasantly surprised when I realized that the glass jugs weren't as expensive as I thought they might be. Also, those glass jars might come in handy and I may want to keep a few! At only $1.50 each, they might make some pretty nice storage containers.