Many of us have probably been part of a friendly debate over the correct way to organize a refrigerator, but a Redditor may have found something new to add to the conversation.
In the subreddit r/Anticonsumption, the confused Redditor shared an Instagram post from Emily Askin (@askinem) that showed Askin pouring milk from cardboard and plastic containers into new glass bottles.
"These restocking videos I see on Instagram are so wasteful. They buy new containers to put things that already come in packaging into," the OP wrote. "Am I missing something?"
Other Redditors were split on the usefulness of the practice.
"Makes me soooo mad," one person wrote.
"I can't speak to the restocking videos, but we often at our home put things in new containers just because it helps keep our pantry more organized and keep it fresher," someone else shared.
There does appear to be some weight to the second commenter's idea.
In fact, a study published in the Journal of Dairy Science found that glass is the ideal material for preserving the flavor of milk, which may extend the life of the product and thus reduce food waste — not to mention that repackaging seems like a good way to limit exposure to toxins in microplastics.
On the other hand, it's fair to wonder about the amount of material waste being created by the practice as well as the harmful pollution generated by the production of multiple types of storage containers.
One commenter on Reddit pointed out that the containers would probably end up in the trash anyway. Sadly, even though many types of milk cartons are recyclable, they may not have been far off the mark.
The U.N. Environment Programme has warned that the Earth is "choking on plastic," with less than 10% of the material ever being recycled.
An Instagrammer also wondered if the milk left in the original carton would be tossed.
"So did you throw away the remaining milk?" they asked.
Ultimately, there are a lot of unanswered questions about this restock video.
But reducing the use of plastic packaging in an eco-friendly way doesn't have to be a conundrum, as there are programs and stores that encourage the reuse of containers or have practices that eliminate the need for two different storage systems.
"We [buy] @crescentridge milk and it comes in glass bottles that we return, less waste," one commenter wrote on Instagram.
"I also get most of my goods from bulk stores, so they don't actually come in containers to begin with," another Redditor said.
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