Milk.

I drink milk.  I really enjoy it.  I have it in my tea and in my cereal every day, and I also use it in baking.  I prefer skim milk (except in ice cream!), and to be honest, without my daily milk quota, I doubt I would be able to get the amount of calcium recommended by health experts for women of my age.

I drink milk, but I am not at all oblivious to the very troubling issues with milk and the dairy industry.  The biggest issue that I have heard of recently is the presence of a certain hormone (insulin-like growth factor, or IGF-1) that is injected into cows.  This hormone is present in the milk of dairy cows injected with it, and there is an ongoing debate about whether it is absorbed by the humans that drink it.  This hormone in higher amounts is associated with colon and breast tumours.

There are actually a number of other issues around milk that I'm not going to go over, because of course all of the studies and science is contested.  No one agrees on anything when it comes to milk.  There appear to be legal limits of the pus allowed to be found in the milk sold by farmers for human consumption, and it's a lot farther away from zero than you would think.  I drink organic milk, but I query whether logically that would mean that the puss count would be higher or lower than in conventional cows.  At least I do know that there are no antibiotics, hormones or other surprises.

Milk bottles.

If you are excited about baking and cooking your own foods, then you can eliminate the need for many products that require packaging by finding a place that sells foods in bulk (Superstore and Safeway both do, and I am sure there are many others).  I don't drink many fluids other than water, unless I make them myself (such as lemonade and grapefruit juice), so the packaging is avoided for those.  However, I drink milk, and have recently discovered Avalon dairy products, which are sold in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia and which have certified organic options available.  The best part: real glass bottles!  I buy mine from Marketplace IGA on Esplanade in North Vancouver and they accept rinsed bottles to be returned, which will then be taken by Avalon, rinsed thoroughly (and disinfected) and reused.  There is no recycling involved, and, of course, no plastic.  The milk tastes better, in my opinion, and I heartily recommend trying it out if you drink dairy (they have skim, low fat, cereal cream, whipping cream, as well as many other products).  If you are living in the US, there are many dairies that deliver or at least produce milk in glass bottles as well.