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At this Welsh shop you can buy a pint of milk the old fashioned way – but there’s a catch
A shop on Anglesey is taking customers on a trip down memory lane with a scheme where you can buy a pint of milk in a glass bottle — but you have to pour the milk yourself.
Anglesey shop launches refillable milk bottle scheme
A shop on the Welsh island of Anglesey has taken proactive measures to deal with the issue of plastic waste by installing a milk machine for customers to fill bottles themselves. Paul Ellis, who runs Siop Ellis Spar in Llangefni with his partner Leonie Gaulton, told the BBC the scheme has proven to be "incredibly popular". — Shoppers can buy glass bottles or bring their own containers and fill up from the 14 litre (24 pint) tank in store. Anglesey council said it was a "great example" of a way to reduce waste.
This is not the only recycling scheme the couple have in place at their shop
A ‘milk refill station’ is now in place at Siop Ellis Spar in Llangefni on Anglesey, off the northwest coast of Wales, and the small family-run business say people have been going "crazy" for the idea.
The scheme – thought to be the first of its kind on the island – allows customers to bring their own glass bottles or other containers to the shop and fill them with milk from a machine on display there.
But if you don’t have your own containers – or have forgotten them – glass bottles are on sale at the store so you won’t have to leave empty handed.
The scheme was launched in a bid to cut the amount of plastic waste hitting rubbish tips and recycling bins.
Shop owner, Paul Ellis and his partner Leonie Gaulton are behind this innovative scheme and were happy to see that it has become a hit with the community.
"We try to be as green as we possibly can," Paul told the Daily Post. "As a business, we feel a certain sense of responsibility in doing that as well.
"It is obvious that recycling is now the future, and so we want to progress by reducing our carbon footprint any way that we can. Not only is it good for the environment, but it is also cost effective for our customers."
Since starting the milk refill scheme, the business has received a huge amount of support from customers on their Facebook page.
The shop owner said: "People’s reactions have been crazy, and the shop has been so busy with customers eager to try the refill station. We love the idea so much, that we have even started using it ourselves!
"It has been so nice to see that our tiny little shop has reached out to so many, and the good people of Llangefni are doing their bit for the environment."
Source: DailyPost.co.uk
This is not the first recycling scheme the couple have in place at their shop.
The Terracycle recycling scheme takes in product packaging that is not usually accepted as recyclable – such as crisp packets, toothpaste tubes and cake wrappers. Any money raised from this scheme is then donated to the town’s playgroup – Meithrinfa Medra.
We don’t need everybody to make a massive change… just a lot of people to make a small change
Mr. Ellis said that just a week after launching, the container of locally-sourced, semi-skimmed milk is being emptied between two and three times per day.
"Like all great ideas it was my missus’s," Mr. Ellis told the BBC. “It’s been really, really busy. We’ve had people getting in touch from Canada, Ireland and Sweden [to find out more]. It’s not a revolutionary idea but it’s a start."
"It makes a big difference I think," he said. "We don’t need everybody to make a massive change, it just needs a lot of people to make a small change.”
