Designed and manufactured in Tasmania, The Udder Way is an initiative bought to life by Ed Crick. Its mission is to eliminate single-use plastics globally.
The idea was sparked by Ed noticing just how many 2-litre milk bottles were being used and sent to landfill, and how wasteful this practice is. “It’s the only commodity which comes in a quantity that small,” Ed explains. “If a mechanic uses 1000 litres of oil, he’s not going to order it in 500 2-litre containers.”
The Udder Way produces high-quality reusable kegs, which can entirely replace single-use plastic milk cartons. Each keg holds 18 litres, eliminating the need to manufacture 7000 2-litre single-use plastic bottles in its lifetime. Currently, The Udder Way is reducing the number of plastic milk cartons by roughly 1.6 million every year – a figure which is expected to triple by next year.
The Udder Way keg system allows the user to store and dispense milk from an installed tap, ensuring fresh and free-flowing milk without the waste and clutter involved with the use of conventional plastic milk bottles.
Ed explains that prior to The Udder Way, there was no other option for people to reduce their waste in this area, “when there’s no other option, and you want a bottle of milk – you go and buy a bottle of milk… Now there’s an option to go and get your glass bottle refilled or make a coffee without buying a single bottle.”
The benefit to users is not only in the elimination of huge quantities of single-use plastics, but in cost and time-saving benefits. “It’s a two second job”, Ed explains when it comes to changing over kegs. They are easily switched over through a simple attachment as part of the system – saving time that would have been previously spent opening, using, replacing, and then disposing of a traditional milk bottle.
To read more about The Udder Way and the work they’re doing to eliminate single-use plastics, head to their website: https://theudderway.com/pages/about