"Pasturised milk is not good for you. Drink raw milk -the green top- this is much healthier."

This is nonsense, and is not supported by any research whatsoever. The risks from raw milk far, far exceed any risks from drinking pateurized milk (because there are none) .

Greg, Gainesville, USA

Pasturised milk is not good for you. Drink raw milk -the green top-
this is much healthier.

tari, London,

Wow take advice from someone in a comments section ??? Nah, I think I'll stick to my usual.

Green milk is just watered down milk. Go ahead, pay for the privilege of watered down milk.

boab, linwood, scotland

Why a poly bag?
Lower carbon foot print for manufacture, transportation, & disposal compared to glass and pet bottles.
More efficient use of space for transport and on shelf for retailers.

James Gunson, Windsor, UK

I still have the milk delivered by the milkman in reusable glass bottles. Now that is green.

Theo Loyla, Birchington, England

What are they going to do when they extend the scheme to wine and fruit juices? Sell us another jug but 1-litre this time?

Humphrey, Telford, UK

Great idea, looks so easy to use.

Richard, Southend, UK

Check it out at www.jugit.co.uk

Sara, Lincoln,

The only 'fresh' milk I saw in South America, specifically Peru, was sold in plastic pouches .
My joy at finally seeing fresh milk was soon tempered by a) trying to drink it from the bag, and b) the taste.

Kieran, London,

Dairy Crest deliver milk in bottles to your home. The bottles are then collected and used again. This would seem to be quite a sensible solution and no plastic is involved.

Diana, Hull, England

Pasturised milk is not good for you. Drink raw milk -the green top-
this is much healthier.

tari, London,

In Denmark one dairy puts it's milk into bags made from chalk and some sort of low polymer (or some such) it is not recycleable but is reduced to CO2 upon burning (which incedentally is how household rubbish is dealt with here, and the heat piped to homes for (you guessed it) heat.)

lisa, Copenhagen, Denmark

We should take note that in Argentina, Bolivia and much of S. America, we use plastic bags for milk, thus greatly reducing the volume of waste we throw away. A plastic bag like that will not break on the way home, believe me. I have wondered when back in England it will start to be used!

Hannah, buenos aires, argentina

This is Britain showing how far behind the rest of the world they really are! Other countries have eliminated thin plastic bags and shoppers are encouraged to 'take their own'. Other countries have been using plastic milk sachets for yonks! Welcome to the 21st Century Britain!

Cary, London,

“Another innovation we think is on its way is having a self-dispenser in supermarkets, where customers can take their jugs and fill up..."

Hasn't this self-dispenser been around for some time? I understand it's called a "cow", and look forward to rows of tethered heifers in my local Sainsbury's.

RW, UK,

I bought milk in bags in 1985 while a student in Liverpool, because it was cheaper than in cartons or bottles. Put the bag in a tub to keep it upright, and closed it with a paperclip. Seems like a good idea - less waste packaging and lower cost.

Ken, Milton Keynes, Bucks

25 years ago in Worcester my grandmother routinely bought her milk in bags. This isn't even innovative for the UK!

Ann, Reading, UK

What a load of rubbish. What was wrong with milk in glass bottles that were re-used? Bring back the milkman

Danny, wakefield,

it is all about the marketing and profitability for the supermarkets... not the green credentials - they're just brownie points

Eva, Norwich,

I have been in Canada since 1981 and one of the first "different" things I noticed was that milk was sold in bags, and still is today.

Eileen, Ayr, Canada

Our council recycles milk cartons and tops. I can't imagine trying to carry my shopping with a few pints of milk sloshing away at the bottom.

David Leslie, Perth, Scotland

Will measures that put the extra cost in the customers and mean only benefits for the supermarkets be successful in these troubled times?. The customer pays the extra 5p in M&S and the pint of milk is more expensive with less packaging in Sainsbury's. I could be green too if people paid me for it

Jose Cordero, Manchester,

Someone asked where did the milkmen go? People started to drive more to supermarkets and stock up on milk. When i helped a milkman in Swansea in the late 1970s people were already starting to cut back on their orders, and we could never carry enough "ancillary" product like bread, soda, chocolate.

phil, Sacramento, USA

They were selling milk in bags 20 years ago in Hungary (yes, they did use reusable plastic jugs that had a spike on them there, too). Copying something 20 years later is hardly 'innovative'.

Piers Carlisle, London,

Milk in plastic bags were delivered by to Essex University student towers in the early 70s. Given the concern students had back then for the environment they were recycled as water bombs. The users were also innovators; resealing full bags with an iron so they would get to out of reach targets!

Ged Parker, Washington Tyne & Wear, UK

It takes less energy to make the bags than it does to transport the bottles and wash them on a mass scale, so why is going back to milk bottles better? The recycling of the bags can fit into a high density polyethylene stream ie hard plastic so there is no difference when collecting for recycle.

Tom, Liverpool, England

Why not have milk sold in containers made of something like, say glass, where the bottles could be reused after washing and even recycled if they broke. An entrepreneur may even be able to create a national delivery and collection system perhaps to be done early in the morning using elec 'floats'??

johnny, uae,

So... I can buy a bag of milk for 80p, which may well pop on the 10 min walk home, or for less money I can buy a more durable plastic bottle?

If its cheaper for the shop (and it is) then we should see the savings. If I want to pay a premium for recyclable containers, I'll have the glass bottles

Phil, Lytham, UK

I too would like bottles back. they're recycable. And by the way in the UK we have full fat , semi-skimmed and skimmed. Sainsburys please take note and stop selling us whole milk, 2% and other Amercanised versions. What next - 'heavy' cream rather than double.

Fred, London, Uk

I remember quite fondly the trip to the dairy shop as a child in in 70s Germany. We had a milkcan filled and on our way back was a bakery. Afterwards, my mum and I would happily sit on a bench in the sun and slurp milk from the lid and eat the crunchy crust of the bread... happy memories!

Iris Millis, Kent, UK

It looks as though the bag stays in the jug after it has been pierced. Does that mean we will have to strilise the bag before putting it in the jug?

Aren't the big plastic recyclable bottles more convenient and less likely to fall foul of council recycling rules?

Peter Ryder, Middlewich, UK

Instead of constantly berating the consumer and treating them as if they have an IQ below 10 why is the packaging industry not targeted/legislated against. Simple answer for supermarkets is don't supply plastic bags, don't manufacture plastic bags and then M&S wont have to charge 5p for them.

marionmarchant, Reigate,

It looks as though the bag stays in the jug after it has been pierced. Does that mean we will have to sterilise the bag before putting it in the jug?

Aren't the big plastic recyclable bottles more convenient and less likely to fall foul of council recycling rules?

Peter Ryder, Middlewich, UK

Yes, I think we understand that milk is sold this way in other countries, must we list them all?

David, London,

Dear Rebecca of London

Do not under estimate the milkman.

I live in a village where ours is a young , eligible batchelor from landowning stock, and a bit of a hottie.

A lovely sight in the morning, and he can change tyres.

You don't get that down at Sainsbury's....

Louise, Mirfield,

Absolute genius. Whatever will they think of next… perhaps reusable bottles made from glass, which can also be recycled quite easily. The icing on the cake is then home delivery of the above.

dave, Preston,

In Germany we had refillable milk glass bottles 20 years ago. Congratulations to the UK to finally catch up.

Mathias H, Beverley, UK

And Britian finally catches up to South Africa - 20 years late.

Babis, London, UK

sell it in cardboard which really can be recycled. I take all plastic bought from a supermarket back to that supermarket;if everyone did that they would think twice about selling things in plastic bottles

peter c, devizes, wessex

The milk bag shown in your article looks like it may be of a type that is not permitted for recycling. Quote from our district council flyer "...materials that can go in blue-lidded recycling bins are cans, paper, cardboard, and plastics (but not bags or film wrappings)." So, more landfill waste?

steveh, Halesworth, Suffolk, England

We used to have milk in bags deleivered up to when the milkman retired about 12 years ago. Apparently during one of the 1970's oil crisis there was a shortage of glass. Tasted better as it didn't separate like it does in bottles.

Timothy, Ber,

Maybe we can catch up with the rest of the world by selling the milk in 500mL, 1L and 2L bags etc?

Luke, London, UK

Why not just sell it in glass bottles in the supermarket? I can't imagine anyone would want to be a milkman these days. and who needs to be when we have the supermarkets?

rebecca, London,

Heres a thought, if you are concerned about the environmental impact of what you are eating and its packaging then give milk a miss. Farmed animals produce more greenhouse gas emissions than the world’s entire transport system. A cows milk is meant for her calf not us!!!!

Denise Watson, Stockport, UK

Don't put your plastic bottles in the landfill waste! Recycle them as we do here in Hackney, a London borough with an efficient and enlightened recycling policy. Alternatively, let's return to cardboard cartons which can be rinsed and recycled. This is what happens in Scandinavia.

John , Hackney,

Good idea, but can Sainsbury's please make the bags in litres. The Weights and Measures (Packaged Goods) Regulations 2006 only allows milk to be sold in pints in returnable containers (i.e.glass bottles).

Michael Oxley, Farnham Common, England

Your article is quite behind the times. Waitrose has been selling it in bags for some time already!

Mark Thomas, Oxford, GB

When I was a child in the Northern Territory in Australia during the 70s milk was sold in plastic bags AND we had a very similar jug as well.

Alison, Dubai, UAE

Even China sells milk in bags. But it is the long-life stuff. You still need to buy fresh milk in a carton. And free plastic bags are no longer available.

Milkmen still exist in Oxford and a fresh pint, loaf and pint of juice get delivered daily, by an electric float. Is well expensive though.

Andy, Beijing, China

We have had milk in bags in South Africa for years - at least 16 years.

Monkey, Cape Town

Monkey, Cape Town,

Waitrose have been selling milk in bags for about a year. Other countries been doing this for 30 years, but they gave away the jugs for free.

Another scam by the big supermarkets to 'milk' another 2.50 out of us for a crummy plastic jug.

Mugs will buy them anyway...

Dan V, London, Uk

They use bags in Romania because its cheaper than boxes. They are tricky to open and without a jug you can't stand the bag up. I fear Sainsbury may be using the eco card to enhance margin!

DW, Wuhan, China

One milk producers guarantees the freshness of their milk for 10 days. Why don't Sainsburies concentrate their resources on that rather than a gimmick.

Well I guess coz they know they'll make a load more money by peddling plastic bags of milk that goes off more quickly.

Dan V, London, Uk

Will it survive 40 minutes from car to house by quad bike over rough terrain? Some cardboard cartons (fruit juices, cream, yogurt) don't. And will all councils recycle them? Ours only takes plastics with no. 1 or 2 in the triangle. It's the unnecessary packaging of fruit and veg that I object to.

Suzie, Hebrides, Scotland

First of all: not a new idea.

Second: plastic is not environmentally friendly. I bet they're selling it like that because the bags are cheaper than tetra packs (which can also be recycled, by the way). Why not just have glass bottles? They're OK even if not recycled.

M. R., Stockport,

Danielle,
My next door neighbour is a milkman, and is about to retire. He's been trying to GIVE AWAY his round for the last six months, but no one wants it. Its fairly well paid, but no one wants the unsocial hours.
It looks like I'll be back to supermarket milk soon, which is a shame.

Paul, LEEDS,

Milk has been sold in bags in India since the 70's. The lettering on the bag tells you what kind it is: full fat, semi-skim or skimmed milk. It's genius! And the bags are very durable. However, I believe the pouring jug is the true innovation!

Vanessa, Leigh,

It came in bags when I went to France on holiday with my family in 1970's. Britain is just very slow yet again in implementing good ideas !!!!

ian payne, walsall,

Another novel idea would be to have it delivered to the door early each morning in returnable glass bottles with foil lids that can be recycled. Oh, sorry, I forgot, the supermarkets killed that one off about twenty years after it had been successful for several decades!!

Sally, Letchworth Garden City, UK

I hope that the supermarkets can also tackle the problem of margarine, butter, yogurt containers be eco also as my council at present can recycle the milk cartons but not these other items of plastic in their collection.

susan, Birminham, England

It's been like this in India as well for the last 3 decades! I am also all in favour of re-cyclable glass bottles though..Much more effective than this bag thing.

Suresh, Coimbatore, India

Why can't we have recycled glass bottles back??? The end of milk delivery is what has caused this situation. Where did the milkmen go and why did they go?
I'm all for the bag thing as a secondary environmental measure but surely the glass bottle and reuse is better?

Danielle De Feo, London,

We're going to have to accept that in order to really go green we are going to have to go back to the packaging that our grandmothers used to use: no plastic, just paper and strings. String bags and cloth bags, and paper bags, all paper goods recycled and un-bleached.

Danielle De Feo, London,

In Israel milk has been sold in bags for the past 20 years.

steve aulger, tel-aviv, israel

I live in Toronto and all the milk I buy comes in bags.

Sarah, Oakville, Canada

when I lived in Worcester in the mid 1970's Bennets Dairy sold milk in similar bags. Nothing new about them at all.

Geoff, Birmingham, UK

Milk was being sold this way in Norway in 1970 when I was on holiday there.

john lazenby, Llangadog, uk