Bags of milk, welsh farmers and the environment
Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 by Nigel
There’s been a bit of a kerfuffle on the news over the last couple of days about these new organic milk eco paks, which use 75% less plastic than a one litre polybottle, with lots of headlines like “Milk bags could replace bottle…”
They’ve been launched by an excellent Welsh organic dairy cooperative called Calon Wen - 20 farms that have banded together to get behind this new initiative.
If you go to what they call their “udder site” (cough), you can see this video if a slightly scary Welsh woman explaining how you put the pouch into the £1.99 jug you can buy from outlets like Waitrose and pour the milk out of that. She’s not so much explaining, actually, as shouting isn’t she? It’s like an organic version of that Barry Scott and his Cilit Bang.
Still, all power to a farmer’s cooperative for taking the inititative, rather than letting the supermarkets dictate terms.
They’ve clearly got an eye for publicity at Calon Wen. Back in January they started putting Lonely Hearts ads on their milk bottles, with the slogan, “Fancy A Farmer?”
The idea came from Calon Wen director and single farmer Iwan Jones, from Groes, near Denbigh - one of five farmers whose picture is featured.
Mr Jones said the countryside could be “a hard place to find a date”.
The 30-year-old said he came up with the idea for the rural matchmaking venture after realising a large number of Welsh farmers were single.
He said: “Calon Wen was founded to support family farmers but a quarter of our members are single, which was becoming a bit of a joke”
One can only supposed it worked. Printing your photo on one of the new floppy eco paks isn’t going to be the least bit flattering.
I’m sure the eco pak is a good idea, but round my way, the local dairy still deliver in glass bottles. Organic milk too. Totally recyclable. By my calculations, that’s 100% less plastic than a polybottle.
Stop me if I’m beginning to sound a little like my gran.
Photo by Eoin O’Riordan
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June 29th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
Nigel, thats a very amusing interpretation of the Demo!! I have passed your comments on to the scary welsh woman. I would really like tyo hear what people make of the product. Go and buy it if you can and let me know (I am a part of Calon Wen not some random person looking for friends on the net…!)
June 29th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Nigel, if you can persuade my local shop to sell milk in a glass bottle I’ll gladly buy it, but until then for the other 90% of us who buy our milk from supermarkets the milk bag sounds great. Don’t such a kill joy. All power to anyone who is doing something to get rid of the piles of unwanted plastic we seem to acquire when we we’re trying to buy something to eat.
July 5th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
Nigel, Came across your web site by accident, and if thats a scary welsh woman you seriously need to go to specsavers, and if you want to see a real scary Welsh Woman she can be found hanging of, that most intolerable little Euro “Minister”, Neil Kinnochio’s right arm………..I think it’s a great idea and can’t wait for it to be sold at my local Tescos….
Get back to hugging trees Nigel, and while your at it, find out if she’s single for me…………..
Cheers…………
Willie
July 23rd, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Yet another publicity stunt for Calon Wen! Yawn!!
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:26 pm
Nigel, have read with interest your blog on Calon Wen’s new ‘revolutionary’ Eco Pak. Whilst I agree that anything to do with saving the environment is a great idea, the Eco pak is hardly a new concept. I lived in Canada for 10 years where the Eco Pak has been in use for a number of years. Also, I can’t help but find I agree with Anna’s comment. Until the beginning of this year, I doubt that many people (even those living in Wales!!) had even heard of a company called Calon Wen. Call me cynical, but is it just a coincidence that Iwan Jones, who fronted the ‘Fancy a Farmer’ campaign also happens to be the marketing manager of the company?!!!
July 23rd, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Anna
I have named the destroyers of nations: comfort, plenty, and security - out of which grow a bored and slothful cynicism, in which rebellion against the world is submerged in listless self-satisfaction. (John Steinbeck)
Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
Rock on Calon Wen
July 23rd, 2007 at 10:22 pm
Right, spotty dog. I’ll have whatever u are on!!!
July 23rd, 2007 at 10:28 pm
You happen to work for Calon Wen?
February 18th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Hi
I was just browsing and came across your site, which I found really interesting. I am involved with the grannies united website and one of the things we are trying to get going is our “green granny” section at http://www.granniesunited.com/green-granny/ . I therefore just wondered if you or any of your contacts may wish to submit an article to the site (focused on the grandmother users). We are really pushing to make the planet better for our grandchildren,
If you don’t then no problem and keep up the good sustainability work.
Best wishes
Clare
admin@granniesunited.com
http://www.granniesunited.com/