AN Ayrshire farmer who wants to turn his organic dairy plastic free has launched a crowdfunding appeal to try and make it happen.
And Bryce Cunningham is already a quarter if the way towards his £10,000 target.
He hopes it can make the Mauchline-based enterprise the first plastic free organic dairy in the UK.
Cunningham, 31, runs Mossgiel Farm which he took over in 2015 folowing the death of his dad, Robert.
In his pitch on crowdfunder.co.uk, he says: “We really want to rid ourselves of single-use plastics, and get the Mossgiel Girls awesome Organic milk into reusable glass bottles and mini-milk churns.
“Currently, eight million tonnes (that’s 8, 000, 000, 000 kilos) of plastics are dumped into landfills, fields, the sea and woodlands around the world every year- and that doesn’t sit well with us, so we want to pioneer the change.
“We are committed to replacing single-use plastics with reusable packaging for 100% of the Mossgiel Girls milk by the end of the summer.
‘Our biggest issue is cost – plastic bottles are 75% cheaper than glass to buy – meaning we would need to pass that big initial cost on to our supporters and ask a faceless, mega-bank for an interest-laden loan.”
The farm currently has a herd around 80 strong and has official organic status.
But it wants to swap glass for an approximate 1300 two litre single use plastic cartons it gets through every year.
It has marketing potential too, with its connections to Scotland’s national bard Robert Burns. a fact etched onto pilot bottles.
Bryce, dad to three year old Arran, added: “If you can support our crowdfunder, we will send you a voucher for FOUR glass bottle rentals with little re-sealable caps for your brand new Mossgiel Milk bottle (then you can re-seal the bottle after the foil cap has gone) – then you can head to your local Mossgiel Milk supporter, or have the girls milk delivered to you, and only pay for the fresh, organic, white gold inside.”
WANT TO LEARN MORE? Read: Help Us Ditch Single Use Plastic
IMAGE CREDITS: Mossgiel Farm