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Writer's pictureLauren-Marie Kennedy

Why White Bottle Caps ≠ Green Results

Cow breast milk suppliers are phasing out the ‘iconic’ multicoloured bottle tops (which represent different states of processing, fat content, etc) and are replacing these with white ones - making it easier to recycle and therefore more environmentally friendly… right? Wrong. When we consider that cow breast milk and cow flesh industries are the biggest polluters of the environment and contribute the most to the current climate catastrophe, changing the colour of a bottle top and calling it progress completely fails to recognise the bigger issue here and is a form of greenwashing. This initiative is essentially the equivalent of taking an electric bus ride to the airport before boarding a private jet but claiming to be greener because of the bus ride; though this analogy may not be the most appropriate since this would arguably still be more eco-friendly than funding animal agriculture which contributes more to global greenhouse emissions than all the world’s transportation combined! Consumers will believe that they are ’doing their bit’, while in actual fact they are not doing very much good at all. If people genuinely care about their purchases from an environmental perspective, then it‘s a no brainer that choosing plant-based is the only solution (not to mention reducing animal suffering/death and improving their own health and wellbeing while they’re at it). Companies such as Oatly clearly label their cartons with environmental benefits of their milk against the breast milk of cows (much to the dismay of these industries). The table below comes from Oatly:

Furthermore, as visible from the table above, packaging makes up a minuscule part of the overall contribution of cow breast milk to the climate. Why would changing this element to be more widely recyclable be such a huge, impactful thing? It’s complete nonsense. If we truly care about climate issues, we must put an end to these repressive, planet-obliterating industries and instead fund plant alternatives. Or, go one step further, save your money and the planet by making your own homemade plant milk - there are plenty of brilliant recipes online to get you started. LMK

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