Gripes pour in about eco-driven changes for milk cartons

A simple change to the design of the gallon milk jug, adopted by Wal-Mart and Costco, seems made for the times.

[Ken in Aurora]

They're awful, and I refuse to buy milk shipped in them.

[Jean SmilingCoyote]

It doesn't look that easy to pour from without spilling. Doesn't matter to me, because I haven't been able to digest milk in decades. My suggestion: buy one or more bottles or pitchers you like to dispense the milk from at home, and transfer it to them right away for your convenient use. There are many choices now.

[SingerInGlenview]

I hate these containers. With no spout, they are awkward to use. I avoid buying milk sold this way.

[trueth]

If you're dumb enough to consume milk from Sam's Club, or anywhere else for that matter, you deserve to have it spilled on you. In fact, you deserve to have a whole gallon dumped on your head. These people are greenwashing everything. If it weren't for a few extra percentage points of market share these companies wouldn't care about 'the environment' as they call it. When will the press regain it's ability to be critical instead of regurgitating the press releases of greedy prostitutes?

[Glacier]

The polar ice caps are melting and people are whining about a new milk container. More proof that milk is for babies and adults don't need it.

[Reality]

Glacier wrote:

The polar ice caps are melting and people are whining about a new milk container. More proof that milk is for babies and adults don't need it.

Wow...if the ice caps really were melting, you would have a good point.

[dexterity]

Are you kidding me? We have to teach people how to pour milk out of these new containers? Ridiculous. I get milk like this from Costco all the time and haven't spilled any yet. And they do fit better in the fridge, etc. I love them.

[Rosanne]

I can't pour milk from these containers without spilling so I refuse to buy them. I'm not saving anything if I have to wipe up milk with paper towels, or with a cloth towel that needs to be washed immediately.

Why can't they put a real spout on the bottle?

[Glacier]

Living in a cave? From the Sydney Morning Herald:
Polar ice cap on the brink
June 29, 2008

For a brief time this northern summer there may be no ice on the North Pole, a US scientist says.

He blames global warming that has melted the Arctic ice sheet over decades.

"We could have no ice at the North Pole at the end of this summer," Mark Serreze, a scientist with the National Snow and Ice Data Centre in Boulder, Colorado, said.

"And the reason here is that the North Pole area right now is covered with very thin ice and this ice we call first year ice, the ice that tends to melt out in the summer."

He predicted a a 50 per cent chance of there being no ice at one point, saying the period could see "ships sail from Alaska to the North Pole, that's possible".

The ice on the North Pole has melted before, "but certainly not in modern times", he said.

"Clearly if you look over what we have seen in the past three years and where we were headed, we are in ... this long-term decline and we may have no ice at all in the Arctic Ocean in summer by 2030 or so."

Google "Polar Ice Cap Melt" moron.

[Martin]

Reality wrote:

<quoted text>
Wow...if the ice caps really were melting, you would have a good point.

I had to go back a whole day to find that. You should try embracing your name.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworl...

[Pal]

Cleaner and more effficient is better for everyone. I'm amazed that so many are so resistant-but perhaps those people don't recycle anyway. Too much trouble.
Anything that is too much TROUBLE can't be worth it.

[Sue]

I HATE these cartons and will not buy milk at Costco where they have them also. If Jewel and Dominicks go to these type I'll buy Oberwise milk in glass bottles. GE refrigerator service person said that the storage of milk in door is not cold enough to keep it fresh.

[Ken in Aurora]

Pal wrote:

Cleaner and more efficient is better for everyone. I'm amazed that so many are so resistant-but perhaps those people don't recycle anyway. Too much trouble.
Anything that is too much TROUBLE can't be worth it.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but we recycle more than twice as much as we throw away. My complaint with these new jugs is that it's a poor design. Redesign them so they work and I'll gladly buy them.

[Susan in Buffalo Grove]

Walmart & Sams are E*V*I*L !!!!

http://www.lamanaphotography.com/walmart2.htm

[Mark Tanner]

Glacier wrote:

The polar ice caps are melting and people are whining about a new milk container. More proof that milk is for babies and adults don't need it.

This 48yr. adult male needs milk. Lots of it! You a tough guy who knows better?

[Bully]

WAL-MART HAS SPOKEN.

You WILL like the new containers.

You WILL buy the new containers because we said they are good for the environment and will be cheaper for you to get your product.

NO DISCUSSION.

[Nancy]

I tried these as part of test market last year and so did my daughter who was 4 at the time....neither one of us had a problem pouring from them.

I haven't bought one of these yet..because i haven't come across them, but I am willing to give it a try.

[Fast Eddie]

Oberwise milk in glass bottles is the best tasting milk you can get and they will bring it to your door.

[JMO]

If Sam's is such a fan of efficient production leading to lower milk prices, why did it lead the efforts to put Hein Hettinga (who started bottling his own milk and selling it for as much as 20 cents a gallon less than the competition at chains such as Costco) out of business?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/...

Why doesn't Sam's do away with pallets altogether and just ship on slip sheets? Not wasting enough wood already?

Why? Because that's not what Sam's/Wal*Mart wants to do.
And why the new design, that is clearly not kid-friendly/aged-friendly/wea k-friendly? Because that's what Sam's/Wal*Mart wants to do.

And why plastic? Use up some more petroleum, go ahead, there's plenty of it around. What is wrong with cardboard? How about aseptic packaging? Better shelf life for sure not to mention sturdier.

Sam's/Wal*Mart is a falling tree that no one wants to land on them. Get out of their way or be crushed.

[DaveK17]

All the whining and befuddlement of some of these "adults" reminds me of an old bumper-sticker that read:
"Cheese in a can...or the ozone layer. God, please don't make me have to choose!"
Whether or not one believes in global climate disruption, environmental conciousness is important, and energy efficiency a necessity, not a luxury.
The only saving grace I can come up with at the moment regarding some of the dim bulbs described in the article and in these comments is that Natural Selection tends to remove stupidity. I hope it will be sooner than later.
In the meantime, try to learn someething new -- like how to pour milk from a new container. It ain't rocket science.