Milk in plastic bags

Many Canadians buy their milk in plastic bags (see Is Drinking Milk From Bags Weird?); next to returnable and refillable bottles, it is probably the greenest way package the stuff. In past posts, some have argued that cardboard cartons are probably better as they are recycled, although plastic bags are as well.
But this past weekend I noticed a number of milk bags drying on a line over the sink at a friend's house in Dorset, Ontario. I asked my host Elizabeth what she did with them; she said many things, because they are so strong.

She ran through an lengthy list of uses:
•lunch bags
•leftovers
•freezing and storing vegetables
•freezing and storing soup
•storage of oily rags while finishing furniture
•storage of paint brushes
Basically, any use that one might use plastic bags for, but because they have to hold and protect milk, the bags are far thicker than a baggie, they are stronger and last forever.
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto