This month’s plastic free challenge was to find ways to reduce single-use plastics when it comes to milk and milk alternatives. Below you can learn more about the different strategies to find plastic-free milk and how things went overall this month.
Reviewing the plastic-free milk strategies
Buying milk in glass bottles
The primary strategy to getting plastic-free milk, is to buy milk in glass bottles. However, finding milk in glass bottles might be a bit challenging, especially if you don’t have local dairies in your area. This is mostly because local dairies are the only ones able to handle the logistics of glass bottles. Not only do they sell the milk in glass bottles but you then return the bottles to them so they can be sanitized and reused. In my opinion, this is the easiest way to reduce your plastic usage with milk.
I wrote another article on the benefits of drinking local milk that you should check out if you’d like to learn more about this topic.
Making kefir from milk in glass bottles
A variation of the above mentioned strategy, is to make your own kefir using the milk from the glass bottles.
This strategy is for people who can’t drink regular milk but are ok with kefir and yogurts. This is actually the category I fall into. I was so sad when I started trying to cut down on plastics but I couldn’t drink the milk that comes in the glass bottles. But that problem was solved when I started making my own kefir!
The thing with making kefir (from a time perspective) is that once you get it going, it’s actually pretty easy and not that labor intensive. It just requires a daily commitment, like feeding a pet. That daily commitment can take about 15-20 minutes from start to finish. You’d be surprised how much use you can get out of the kefir grains! Along with kefir you can also make kefir cheese and kefir soda (which is similar to kombucha), just to name a few.
Again, this strategy also relies on being able to find milk in glass bottles. So take a look around your area for local milk producers who offer the glass bottle option.
Making your own nondairy plastic-free milk
The other key strategy is for people who need, or want, to avoid dairy altogether. This involves making your own plant-based milks to avoid the plastic containers. This is the strategy I’m working on this month for the milk challenge. Because I like to use hemp milk for my overnight oats and nondairy replacements for my creamers.
To make my own plant-based milks, I’m using a new-to-me Nutr pitcher that is specifically designed for the task. So, far it’s working well and I’m glad I have the pitcher. Especially since my mini-blender bit the dust earlier this year and I haven’t replaced it.
Some notes about using the Nutr pitcher
The Nutr pitcher heats and blends to make the plant “milk” and because of the blending component it is a bit noisy. The pitcher I have only makes 1.5 cups and the milks are only recommended to be stored for about 3 days. Which means I need to get into the habit of making the milks as needed.
Quick mention about the cost for making your own plant-based milks
To get a more standardized price I’m using Azure Standard’s* prices because they have drop off locations throughout the USA. Based on their prices, you can see that it costs me half as much to make my own hemp “milk” compared to if I bought it.
- Cost to make 32 oz of hemp milk with the Nutr pitcher = $2.25 ($0.56 oz for hemp hearts/seeds)
- Cost to buy a pre-made 32 oz container of hemp milk = $4.75
Not plastic-free but worth a mention: powdered milk
Another option that should be considered is the powdered milks. I didn’t really think of these when I began the challenge earlier this month, so I’d like to give them an honorable mention now.
I really like the Rasa powdered coconut creamer with adaptogenic herbs. It’s made to be added directly to your hot beverage but I’m finding I really like to make a big batch and just use it as regular creamer.
Would you like to try Rasa coconut creamer* with adaptogenic herbs? You can use my referral code SUSIE29803 and get 15% off your first order!
With the Rasa creamer, I usually use 1/2 cup powder to 14oz water. I recommend using either a mini-blender or one of those mixer bottles to get it mixed really well. Then I store it in a jar to use throughout the week.
This results in one (8.5oz) package of powdered Rasa creamer making 70 oz of creamer. The regular creamers at the store usually come in 32oz or 20oz containers.
You can also get regular powdered creamers from Azure Standard*. I like to use their powdered coconut cream with my cooking, but now I need to try it out as a coffee creamer. It’s available at the starting weight of 1 lb, which will cut down on plastic waste even more because it’s in bulk.
So, while the powdered mixes don’t eliminate plastic consumption, they do reduce it a bit. How much plastic they decrease depends on the size of the containers you usually use.
Conclusion to this month’s plastic-free milk challenge
All-in-all this month’s plastic-free milk challenge went well. While not completely plastic-free, all the strategies reduced the amount of plastic used. I was able to milk in a glass bottle from one of the local dairies at Sprout’s Market, a grocery store chain. Which is always great to see the stores carrying local produce!
I got to try making my own plant-based milks. While it is more work than just buying the “milks”, the Nutr pitcher makes it a lot easier. It was also nice to see how much it cut down on cost as well as plastic.
I found another resource to reduce plastics with the powdered creamers. I’m still experimenting with coconut creamer recipes using the regular powdered coconut cream. I always like having powdered options for my backup food storage.
Did you do the milk challenge? Let me know how it went in the comments below!
I include links for the products I mention and personally use throughout this website. These links are indicated with a (*). Many of these product links are affiliate/referral links where Sustainable Pursuits llc may receive a small compensation for recommendations made in reference to the products or services on this website. This helps to support Sustainable Pursuits llc and my ability to share these experiences with you.
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