Milk by the Bag?

The days of the ubiquitous milk jug could be numbered.

Canadians have already made the switch to milk bags, and the trend is beginning to take hold in the U.K.

In February, Sainsbury began selling milk in a bag in all of its supermarkets in an attempt to reduce plastic packaging and move toward more environmentally friendly initiatives. The bags are reported to cost slightly less than the bottles but use 75 percent less packaging; the company estimates it will save up to 1,500 tons of packaging annually.

To help ease consumers along, Sainsbury plans to give away 500,000 reusable jugs designed to hold and pierce the bags. Thereafter, the reusable jugs will be available for a nominal cost.

Though bottles — originally glass and now plastic — have been the predominant method of distributing milk since 1880, the switch to bags has been ongoing for some time now and is already the norm in China, India and Poland.