Treehugger - Latest Comments in Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Rudy — Tue, 19 May 2009 23:53:47 -0000

These people should get an award for the poorest design, yet, did they at least test the product beforehand? I've been using the new design now for several months, and the amount of time I spend cleaning up the spilled milk is frustrating to say the least, with two small children crying in stereo waiting for daddy to clean up the mess before tending to them. I'm all for less waste and greener world but why o why is the design sacrificed? Did we learn nothing from "generic yellow"?

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

fisherman — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 10:13:26 -0000

if they are saving all these costs, then why is a gallon of milk still the same price???

the consumer should see a price savings as well!

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Catie — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:07:50 -0000

It's great that dairy companies are switching they're designs, it's a step in right direction. However, I wonder how many job losses will be associated with this new design, since stores will need less frequent shipments. Also, as another commenter pointed out, the jugs are "still made with oil intensive plastic."

\I personally drink soy milk, so this has yet to affect me.

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Brian — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 15:40:29 -0000

I think they need to go back to the drawing board on this design...I have not yet been able to master pouring from this new design. And really is it cost effective for me the consumer..when I spill my milk all over the place when pouring from it....

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Gloria Johnson — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:40:29 -0000

here's a thought on the complaints about how messy and wasteful(of milk) some people find them. what is stopping any one from pouring the milk into another container/pitcher once the product is taken home? assuming most people don't like to drink their milk at walmart. if it lowers carbon emissions then isn't this a worthy alternative - imperfect or not? as to how odd it may look: how odd did the first car look compared to a horse?

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

trixie — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 23:04:10 -0000

I work at a coffee shop and I love these containers! I can get an extra 2 in my undercounter fridge! They take a bit of practice to pour, but the trick is simply tilting the jug instead of trying to pick the heavy thing up. I also love that there are no little plastic rings...those things are wasteful & unsainitary...and sometimes end up in the bottom of your glass.

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

chopper — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:21:30 -0000

say, what are those ridges on the side for?

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

AtariJedi — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 03:02:09 -0000

Follow Canada's 30+ year lead and switch to Milk bags! So much more efficient, and easy too!

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Concerned1 — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 12:21:15 -0000

The bottle is compeletly redesigned for structual reasons (including the ribs). The gram weight of the plastic although has went up because of the extra stability needed. There is not much truth to the comments about 50% more milk to the truck. Because the trucks are already loaded to capcity. So the only way to get more on the truck is to overload them past the laws of the road. The material they are made of is HDPE the same as the old bottles. The shrink wrap is not. If you don't like the way these bottles pour wait until you see the competitors bottle due out next month. It is a far better design.

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Derek — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:20:33 -0000

Deal with it. POUR CAREFULLY. buy the milk!

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Kim — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:35:54 -0000

People still drink milk? Ewww!

I'm so vegan. heh.

In Japan, the milk is in a MUCH smaller container, but when I was a kid growing up in a nasty suburb my family of four would drink one of those in a day. Japanese milk containers are paper cartons, and they are very often recycled. The grocery store next door to me has a bin for them- great.

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Meredith — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:12:11 -0000

For those of you not in the US - many teenage boys will go through a gallon of milk a day. Picture a family with 3 or 4 growing boys each participating in one or two sports requiring a lot of gear and daily practice and then add in two or three trips a week to the grocery store - well, you get the picture, and now you know why mom drives an SUV, too.

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Chris — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:39:03 -0000

Okay, I think we've covered the whole thing with the ridges on the sides.

These look great to me, I'll make sure to grab them when I next see them. I can't see why on earth it would eb ahrd to pour with these.

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Melanie — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:45:45 -0000

My favorite part of this post is the picture. Anyone else notice the mountainous stacks of Gatorade G2 in the background? Not only is the product bottled in individual plastic containers, but then they are wrapped in plastic. I think this is what we call irony.

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Jon Sands — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:06:02 -0000

The Costco I go to has been using these jugs for 5 or 6 months. They weren't my favorite at first but they have grown on me. I think they are easier to break down plus I have found other uses for them.

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

edmicman — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:22:50 -0000

I dunno....there's two of us in a household and we go through roughly a gallon a week. Between cereal, coffee, and glasses with dinner, it gets used. [shrug] I grew up on a dairy farm in the Midwest US....maybe that's why?

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Andrew Stone — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:50:43 -0000

It is nice when you see a change that makes a real difference. I wonder if this will just be a change with milk or will it move on to other gallon products like Orange Juice?

The only problem is that it is still made with oil intensive plastic.

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

JDreyer — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:22:51 -0000

I wonder if they'll do the same for soymilk.

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Blu-Ray-Ven — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:50:33 -0000

one good thing about this redesign is that the container is no longer transparent, though it will be herder to know exactly how much is in with giving a jiggle or looking through the hole. without light getting in as much it will increase the shelf life of the milk

think about all those glass door refer cases at the stores, then the transparent plastic letting in the light

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Luke — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:27:34 -0000

Do they really need such huge containers of milk - made of plastic? Why not just pack the milk in Tetrapak bricks? They don't buckle - and a liter is big enough isn't it? If not; take two, then recycle the containers after your done. Those huge containers are ridiculous.

How much milk can you drink before it goes bad, anyways? How big a family are these gallon jugs meant for?

Having to teach adults how to pour a glass of milk is a pretty good indication of how bad the design is.

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Emeril Essago — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:44:56 -0000

It's a nice design for shipping, but the designer lost sight of the end use. If consumers need to adjust to using a product as simple as a milk jug, it's clear that someone did a bad job on the user aspect of the design. From what I've seen, people are having trouble pouring a single time without getting a spill every time. I applaud the fact that the design considers its impact on distributors, but forgetting about the user is a design sin.

Now it's a question of whether or not the designer will take this real world criticism and redesign the product for easier use, or put her hands over her ears and continue to tell the world, "You're doing it wrong!"

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

William — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:38:30 -0000

I used to live in Germany in the 80s and 90s and they sold liters of milk in thin film plastic bags (about the same thickness as a bread bag). The bags would be taken home and either placed or emptied into a hard-plastic or glass milk jug that nearly every household owned. It always struck me as a more economical and environmental packaging solution.

P.S. A google search for 'milk in a bag' showed lots of hits indicating Ontario also uses milk bags.

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

superbad — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:03:49 -0000

The grooves are to prevent buckling. They stack these 4 high on a pallet with no other support, so the bottom container has to support about 25 lbs. You can see how they did that by making the top surface flat to even out the load, with big rads on the transition to the vertical sides. It's a nice design.

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

liz — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:37:27 -0000

Other than, say, a three year old, who has trouble pouring milk? I don't really see how this new design will be more difficult to "pout" (as written in the article :->).

Being serious, though, I haven't seen these new jugs yet, but, is the plastic recyclable, etc?

Re: Gallon Milk Jug Gets Redesigned For a Low Carbon World

Mike — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:06:58 -0000

Anybody know anything about the footprint of these things? Will they still fit in the fridge doors properly?