We go through on average a pint of milk a day, on our cereal, tea and coffee, and it can be more at weekends if I use it in baking or cooking.

I bought our milk in plastic cartons, weekly from the supermarket.

That was a large amount of plastic passing through our kitchen. We put them into the recycling bin, but I am not convinced any more that adding ever increasing amounts of single use plastic to recycling is going to stop it ending up in landfill eventually. My aim now is to avoid adding to the plastic mountain where I can. So I started thinking about alternatives.

When I was growing up all of our milk was delivered by the milk man on our doorstep in returnable glass bottles.

We are lucky enough that near where we live is a dairy farm called Acorn Dairy , and they do old style milk deliveries in returnable glass bottles.

Barry fixed a box on the wall of our house next to the door. He found it in a second hand shop. He fitted the lid with magnetic catches. Our deliveries are placed in there and the lid keeps the blue tits from pecking the foil lids.

Changes to our order can be made by phone or on line to the dairy.

The milk is more expensive than what I was buying in the supermarket at 62 pence per pint, or £4.34 per week which we pay by direct debit, but it’s organic and local, and delivered to the door.

And crucialky for me, it will make a big difference to the plastic we throw away.

We can even visit the cows!