The truth about lightproof milk bottles

For a lot of Kiwis it was part of the everyday fabric of life, and something we’ve grown very nostalgic about. The walk out to the gate twice a day. The plastic milk tokens in a white paper bag that you bought from the dairy. And the times the milkman left your usual order behind the letterbox despite the empties not being out, because he knew you’d just forgotten and trusted you to pay him back tomorrow…

Today of course we have plastic bottles, Tetra Paks and the controversial lightproof bottles from Fonterra. What a firestorm those things have stirred up.

While some people say the milk in them tastes better for longer, others hate the new-fangled packaging. You can’t see how much milk is left inside, they say. It’s solving a problem that wasn’t there. Why can’t we go back to the good old days when milk bottles were simply cleaned and reused?

In particular, recyclers have hit out at the new bottles because the colouring in them restricts what they can be made into when reused. And community recycling champs Wanaka Wastebusters, who run the Unpackit Awards, reckon lightproof milk bottles have been nominated as the worst packaging in the country a shocking 84 times.

So are they really worse for the environment?

We decided we’d find out and asked Dr Michelle Dickinson, a materials engineer and sustainability enthusiast from Auckland University, to investigate the bottles for Green Ideas magazine.

The article is out now – our latest issue hit the shelves on Monday – and without giving it all away, I can tell you that nostalgia isn’t everything. Those old glass bottles get a tick for being reusable, yet because they were so heavy they took a lot more fuel to move around the country – and we know that isn’t great for our environment.

So what about the lightproof option? 

Well, you’ll have to grab a copy of the magazine to hear the verdict – but I promise it’ll be worth your while. Apart from that fascinating feature there’s loads of other content, from a step-by-step guide to making soap, to an inspiring piece on the Evers-Swindell twins and the work they’re doing for New Zealand’s environment. Perhaps pick up a copy when you next get some milk – in whichever container you choose.

Greg Roughan
 Editor, Green Ideas magazine

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