Long gone are the wonderful days when we could leave empty milk bottles for the trusty (and hopefully handsome) milkman to pick up and reuse. Today, however, milk is packaged in large plastic jugs or printed-paper cartons. After getting our, “daily 3,” some jugs and cartons get recycled, while most make themselves comfortable for the next millennium (that’s how long it takes for a plastic milk jug to break down) at your local landfill.

There are plenty of creative ways to reuse milk cartons. Search the internet and you’ll find an overwhelming number of do-it-yourself milk-jug projects ranging from horse feed-scoopers, to watering cans, to planters.

One only needs so many scoopers and planters, so if you can’t find another use for the plastic jug in your house then make sure you pop your milk carton into the recycling bin. As said before, recycling is not the perfect solution, but it’s better than letting that jug sit in your landfill.

The plastic resins used to make bottles are derived from petroleum and natural gas-fossil fuel. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that fossil fuels are in great global demand at the moment . . . or for eternity. Recycling milk jugs not only reuses a depleting resource, but also conserves 50% of the energy needed to make products from new resin.

Additionally, plastic milk cartons are often used to make products that would be made out of wood. By using fewer fossil fuels and keeping the trees alive you’re preventing a global warming double whammy!

Take for example this Adirondack chair. Yeah it looks like wood, but guess what? It’s cold, hard, milk-jug plastic. In fact, 500 milk jugs were used to make it . . . how’s that for a recycling bonanza? The great thing about this Adirondack chair, and other recycled plastic patio furniture, is that it’s completely weatherproof. Unless it gets pelted by giant hail balls, it requires no painting, re-varnishing, or splinter sanding. Most of all you don’t have to worry about pesky insects making a home in your furniture . . . instead they can go and make a home in the real tree you didn’t cut down.

Posted on June 29th, 2007 by Olivia Zaleski