Sustainable Soy Milk Packaging

As a vegan, I consume a lot of soy milk. I'm also an environmentalist. Thus, I hate the fact that I can't recycle the soy milk containers. They aren't just regular cardboard and the wax coating clogs most recycling machines. So even though your curbside recycling program may take them, chances are the operators probably are just throwing them out at the plant. (Only select communities in 26 states actually recycle them. You can check to see if yours is one of them here.) As an idealist, this situation has been troubling for some time--everything else I buy can be recycled. Recently, I investigated this problem a little more thoroughly.

Some Background

If you're truly an environmentalist, you have to be vegan. I'm not going to bore with you the statistics right now, but suffice to say, animal-based foods are produced very inefficiently compared to regular produce. As a result, becoming vegan is the best way to dramatically reduce one's ecological footprint. There are many other good reasons to become vegan--for instance, maybe you like to be healthy or maybe you love animals--but the point I'm trying to get across is that environmental concerns are probably the top priority for many vegans.

For anyone who doesn't know, vegans are individuals who abstain from consuming any animal products whatsoever. Unlike vegetarians, we don't eat eggs, fish, or dairy products. For some strange reason, dairy is particularly ubiquitous in the American diet so replacing cow's milk is pretty much the top priority when you become vegan. Fortunately, there are plenty of alternatives available: soy, rice, oat, almond, and even hempseed milk are commonly sold at most supermarkets now. (The reason there's so many choices is that each of these "milks" is really just the product, say soybeans, blended with water.) I decided to go with soy milk, in part because I prefer the taste, but mostly because it's the best value and I'm really cheap--er, frugal that is. And I can honestly say I don't miss "regular" milk at all. But I do miss the package.

You see all these non-dairy milks have two things in common: First off, obviously none of them were designed to make a baby calf gain more than three hundred pounds in about six months. And secondly, none of them come in a standard gallon-size milk jug. Soy and rice milk can usually be purchased in half-gallon waxed cardboard containers, and the other common form of packaging is the quart-sized aseptic containers that don't require refrigeration. Like I said before, I'm cheap, so this is irritating from a financial perspective. But more importantly, I strive very hard to live sustainably. and this packaging makes it exceedingly hard to do so. More material is used since I have to buy smaller quantities and that extra material is only recyclable in 26 states. And since my state is about as green as Exxon Mobil, it doesn't happen to be included in that elite list. For now, I have to begrudgingly recycle only the plastic cap. This is literally the only thing I purchase that isn't recyclable. But I can't stop. Fortified soy milk provides me with the necessary amount of vitamin B12 so I don't go crazy, and it's really essential for making delicious oatmeal and shakes. Besides, who really has time to make their own soy milk?

The (Failed) Crusade

Well, recently I decided to do something about this conundrum. I can't move and I don't want to give up soy milk so I decided to contact the companies themselves. I mean I can't be their only customer who's worried about recycling right? Because as we've already mentioned, there's definitely a correlation between being vegan and being concerned about the environment. In fact, one soy milk brand, Silk, has incorporated this fact into their marketing strategy. That's why each and every non-recyclable carton has one full panel dedicated to explaining that Silk uses 100% wind power for its operation. Surely this company would be receptive to my entreaties for greener packaging right?

I wrote to the Private Selection Organics label from Kroger and Silk and told them about my problem. I explained that I loved their product but really wanted something recyclable. I asked them why soy milk couldn't just be packaged like cow's milk? I also informed them that I would probably be a lifelong customer of whatever brand created a recyclable container first. It's that important to me. Here are their responses:

From Kroger:

...The aseptic packaging is an essential asset to our products for providing extended shelf life without the need for refrigeration; cost efficient distribution; and protection of the product's flavor, nutrition, and quality...

Now this is a totally political answer. I obviously understand that not having to refrigerate something lowers distribution costs. But the half-gallon containers do need refrigeration. What about those? Moreover, if this packaging so much more efficient, which it might actually be, why don't they package cow's milk the same way. As of this writing, they have not gotten back to me about these concerns.

From Silk:

At this point there are no nation-wide recycling standards. Each state and jurisdiction has different recycling rules based on cost-effectiveness, quantities of the materials in circulation and regional differences.

We are an environmentally concerned company and will always strive to use the most earth-friendly packaging available. Your comments are appreciated and we will not rule out any future changes, but at this point we feel that we are using the most environmentally friendly and cost effective packaging for our products.

Thank you White Wave Foods, for telling me exactly what I already know. I know there's no nationwide recycling standards; that's kind of why I'm writing--my state sucks at recycling. And though I'm glad you "strive to use the most earth-friendly packaging available," it seems that you are failing to do so if residents from 24 states can't recycle it. Then again, I'm not sure what I expected from these guys. They promise to disregard all suggestions right at the bottom of their contact form.

From Silk:

We love to hear your comments and encourage you to give us feedback; however, please understand that we cannot accept suggestions for new products, advertising, promotions, etc. from anyone outside of our company. This is necessary to prevent any misunderstandings as to the origin of ideas.

Wait, what? You can't accept new ideas?. Then why the hell am I filling out this form? This is literally a suggestion box with a disclaimer explaining that all suggestions will be ignored. I'm glad I don't buy this brand anyways because I really don't want to support this kind of idiocy. I want to give them feedback about this, but, I'm sure that'd be ignored too so..

So there you have it. Soy milk will continue to be a perpetual blemish on my otherwise sustainable lifestyle because apparently these companies don't really care about satisfying their customers.

Silver Lining, Almost...

In my quest to justify my unrecyclable soy milk purchase, I came across some interesting information that might put a positive spin on everything. How could Silk maintain that it was using the most cost-effective and most environmentally-friendly packaging if wasn't recyclable in very many places? Were they simply placating or was there some substance to their claims.

It kind of caused me to rethink this whole thing. The best solution of course would be to expand recycling operations in my accursed red state, but I know that's not much of a priority in the current economic climate. Thus, answering one question becomes paramount: Is it better to have a recyclable container made from non-renewable petroleum or a disposable one made out of renewable resources? Obviously, I'm pulling for the latter. Maybe I should be writing to the dairy farmers instead.

I don't have a conclusive answer yet, but some hopeful signs come from an article by The New York Times that I linked to above. Apparently, Walmart and Costco debuted a new square milk jug design about a year ago. The impetus for the switch was that traditional milk jugs are actually a very inefficient way to transport milk, as illustrated by this comparison chart from the article. Regular milk jugs have to be loaded in crates and carried by hand, but the new-fangled variety is stackable so machines can shrink wrap many jugs together on large palettes. Space is utilized much better, as the article explains:

By eliminating the crates, the new containers store 4.5 gallons of milk in a cubic foot--50 percent more than the 3 gallons stored in a cubic foot with the old jugs.

When the milk arrives at the destination, the cardboard in between each layer of the new jugs is recycled. On the other hand, the milk crates for the old jugs have to be reloaded on the truck, taking up valuable space. Then the crates have to be washed back at the dairy. On the whole, the new jugs result in major water savings, fewer trips by huge semis, lower costs for consumers, and fresher milk, even if it is terribly unhealthy. What's not to like?

Change.

There was a huge consumer outcry against the new design. Apparently, pouring these jugs required a different technique, so many people spilled on their initial attempts. As you might imagine, my community isn't the first to get these innovations, but the article implied that Walmart was intent on making this a nationwide thing. Yet now, over a year after that article was published, I have yet to see a single square jug at my local Costco or Walmart. I think it's safe to say that the consumers killed innovation.

In a very strange sort of way, I guess it's consoling to know that regular milk jugs are bad for the environment too. I also read that cartons are the most environmentally-friendly form of packaging. Unfortunately, I got that information from a packaging industry group called the Carton Council, so it may be just be marketing copy. For now, I'm going to hope they're honest. Now I just need some biodegradable garbage bags for my cartons to try and put my mind at rest.

So not that any of you were probably too concerned about this issue, but now you know what I do in my spare time...

What We're All About

It has become painfully clear to me that I have a distinctly un-American mindset. Not only do I care about politics, which is certainly a rarity in and of itself, I also have this strange desire to make informed decisions. Admittedly, this is the sort of virtue the Founders wanted to cultivate in all the people. But when we consider any of the myriad of polls that seek to quantify American ignorance, I think it's safe to say they failed. For instance, a recent survey revealed that more than one half of Americans were able to name at least two members of the Simpsons family while only about a fourth could name more than one of the freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment. (When I told some friends and peers about this awesome statistic, the result was even more disheartening. Each one proceeded to try and name the five freedoms you see, and well, most of them didn't get too far.) This rampant ignorance manifests itself in our susceptibility to demagoguery and our clear desire to view everything as an unnuanced clash between the forces of good and evil. This is why we have the ridiculous birther controversy, which Jon Stewart assails hilariously, or the stupefying debate over what forms of torture--excuse me--enhanced interrogation techniques are appropriate.

It is this tragic context which compels me to write and quixotically search for other like-minded people to have a real conversation, a conversation about things that matter. I could go talk about sports or movies or some other frivolous topic with almost anyone I choose. But in the face of major problems like climate change, the War on Terror (or whatever we're going to call it now), and the growing national debt, such discussions can only leave me unsatisfied. Instead, I wanted a forum for discussing all the things that have been banished from "polite conversation". And that's why I started Verbal Vigilantes. I want to offer my views and I want people to disagree and argue with me about it. Most importantly, I want to be proven wrong because that's when we learn.

I confess that the name Verbal Vigilantes is a little bit optimistic and dishonest at the moment. The implied plurality is greatly overstated; it's pretty much just me. However, I'm always looking to add new members that share my love for writing and my interests (though not necessarily my views), so let me know if you're interested. Ultimately, when and if the community grows large enough, we will implement a revenue sharing program so that the benefits of participation have a material and an intellectual component. I know I for one can't imagine a better career than blogging--reading, learning, and writing all day on your schedule and no commute required, what could be better?

The full community will be located at verbalvigilantes.com, but hopefully this site will give us (i.e. me) a less obscure presence in the blogging community. (The actual site uses Drupal, and I've had trouble in the past getting indexed properly by Technorati, so I just decided to set up a mirror.) Additionally, the community site will have articles about members' personal lives (if they choose), creative writing pieces, and recipes as well for healthy cuisine. There's no good way to categorize those things on Blogger. Thus, the content here will be restricted to the substantive things I mentioned before, lest someone should come seeking a discussion of foreign policy and hear instead about my lack of a love life. No one wants that. That said, I would encourage you to check out the main site for it will be easier to search for exactly what you're looking for and I imagine the bulk of the discussion will take place there also.

Another feature of the main site is a forum where members can discuss each other's writing technique rather than the content. I alluded earlier to my passion for writing, and one of my goals in starting the community was to become a better writer and to help others with a similar quest. Good writing is a scarce thing, but I'd like to do my part to fill the void.

Anyway thanks for stopping by and I look forward to your comments.