I have seen reusable glass containers at Greenstar for 2% milk and orange juice. I don't care much for milk other than whole milk, and orange juice in Ithaca just doesn't seem right, even if the glass is reused. There's a coop in Brattleboro VT that I've stopped by a few times, and they had a nice selection of milks in reusable containers with about a $1 deposit.
At last year's winter NOFA conference in Saratoga, I heard the greatest food storage idea yet. The concept was to have an underground root cellar with an ice storage shed above. That way your cold air around the ice sinks and keeps your root cellar cooler than just ground insulation, and you wouldn't need an electric refrigerator. I hope someday to use some really neat concepts like that. My favorite "refrigerator" was 3000ft up, near Wildcat (D) Mountain in the Whites of New Hampshire. Two peaks had collapsed long ago and left enormous boulders in the area between, which in the winter fill with now and ice. Some of these little caves go about 15ft down also. In the summer, the snow/ice remains for quite a while since it's basically below ground, and doesn't receive light under the boulders. If your familiar with the AMC, this is right next to the Carter Notch huts. -Andy Joel and Sarah Gagnon wrote: > I have pondering this issue for years. For most of the last 30 years, we > have bought dry milk and mixed it as needed, using old glass half-gallon > juice bottles (remember when juices came in glass bottles?). I'm down to > only 3 left, and they seem to be irreplaceable. The other problem is the > caps, which wear out eventually and can't be replaced either. So we have > supplemented the supply with plastic bottles that resemble the glass ones, > but are harder to get clean. Dry milk tastes better if mixed a day or more > ahead and refrigerated. When traveling, something we do once or twice a > year, we mix it up just before use, mixing only what we will immediately > consume. It works, but isn't as good. > > Lately we have been purchasing fluid milk when we are in town. In the last > year dry milk prices rose to match, and now exceed, fluid milk prices. I > don't like generating the plastic bottles, even if they are recyclable. > Doesn't Byrne Dairy still use reusable glass bottles? > > Our refrigerator is used primarily for fresh food storage. It supplements > the cold storage room in the winter and substitutes for it once the weather > is too warm for cold storage (generally April through October). While we > process most of our fresh vegetables for year-round consumption, the > refrigerator gives us a place to accumulate enough to make the processing > efficient. Asparagus, beans, summer squash, and cucumbers are all kept in > the fridge to retain quality and retard spoilage. Ditto for fruit for fresh > consumption. You can't store raspberries at room temperature for more than > a few hours. While all these products could be processed in small batches > as they are picked, that isn't very efficient in time or energy, and it > doesn't work for the products that are only consumed fresh (like cucumbers > and summer squash). So, while we could probably make do if necessary, for > reasons of convenience and nutritional superiority, we refrigerate. > > Joel > > At 05:30 PM 12/25/08 -0500, you wrote: >> At 01:37 PM 12/25/2008, you wrote, in part: >>> Take milk for example. Much of the rest of the world uses aseptic >>> packaging technology for packaging milk. As a result milk can sit >>> on the shelf in a tropical environment for up to six months without >>> refridgeration. It is also available in small enough packaging that >>> it can be consumed in a day or less, thus elimination the need for >>> home refridgeration after the package is opened. >> Dear George and Friends--Yes, this is a good thing in a way in terms >> of many populations receiving a higher nutrient level, and especially >> a blessing in many underdeveloped countries. However, there is a >> serious problem with Tetra, the patent holder and manufacturer of the >> world's aseptic packaging, and recycling in some areas. Aseptic >> packages can be completely recycled into fiber (paper), aluminum >> (foil) and plastic (the coatings, caps), less the adhesives, but in >> many (most?) areas of the world these packages go to the landfill >> instead. This represents a tremendous quantity of resources and >> embodied energy going down the tubes. In some states, like Brazil, >> the governments threatened to ban Tetra products unless Tetra agreed >> to recycle their products. So they did. Maybe they are doing a lot >> more now globally, but I suspect that most still go to the landfill >> or, even worse, the incinerator. I haven't seen any lifecycle cost >> analysises, but I suspect that it is less expensive, less energy >> intensive and less GHG producing to supply refrigeration, with >> adequate product life as Joel pointed out, than is to supply the >> needed quantity of Teta packs on a global basis. Jus' my $.02. Tom >> >> P.S.: If almond milk, rice milk, dairy products, etc., came in >> reusable glass containers we would be waaayyy ahead in terms of >> energy, GHG emissions and resources, even with the cost of >> transporting and cleaning the glass containers. It's the "throw >> away" mentality that promotes wastage and abuse of resources, energy >> and the rapidly deteriorating environment. >> >> ****************************************** >> Tom Shelley >> 118 E. Court St. >> Ithaca, NY 14850 >> 607 342-0864 >> [email protected] >> http://www.myspace.com/99319958 (Just updated 12-22-08.) >> http://www.facebook.com/129295929#/home.php (Last updated 12-16-08.) >> >> Compost Educator and Sustainability Scion >> >> Buy products in glass, not plastic! Recycle all of your glass bottles. >> >> The percentage of PET recycled is declining. >> >> PET Recycling Rages Graph >> >> Source: National Association for PET Container Resources, American >> Plastics Council >> Note: 39% of plastic recycled in 2003 was PET. >> _______________________________________________ >> For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, >> please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ >> >> RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: >> [email protected] >> http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins >> Questions about the list? ask [email protected] >> free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > _______________________________________________ > For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please > visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ > > RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: > [email protected] > http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins > Questions about the list? ask [email protected] > free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org > > > -- Andy Goodell Assistant Director www.IthacaCarshare.org 607.277.3210 _______________________________________________ For more information about sustainability in the Tompkins County area, please visit: http://www.sustainabletompkins.org/ RSS, archives, subscription & listserv information for: [email protected] http://lists.mutualaid.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainabletompkins Questions about the list? ask [email protected] free hosting by http://www.mutualaid.org
