The Surprising History of the Milk Carton
A humble paper product tells a story of farming, waste, and home technology in 19th- and 20th-century America.
The square-shaped, flat-bottomed milk carton: It has always worked for me, even if I haven't entirely mastered the pinching-pulling motion required to open the top, and often mutilate the carton spout.
Imagine my surprise, then, when I traveled to Uruguay and discovered that its milk only comes in plastic bags. Non-resealable ones! Ones you cut open at the corner! So that after you use the bag for the first time, it flops around the refrigerator, spilling milk all over the apartment!
Citizens of the U.S.A., I have returned from that land of 3 million people and 10 million cows to tell you that there is another way. The non-resealable plastic bag: it causes less waste than cartons. Also: it is a form of behavioral control to get you to drink the milk really fast so it does not go bad. When you are full of milk and don't want any more, you seat the bag gently in this little plastic pitcher that is in the back of your cabinet (your landlord may have forgotten to mention this to you). The little plastic pitcher has a flat bottom and can go in the fridge.