TWO dairies are going back to the future to say no to plastic – in two very different ways.

While Dale's Dairy has been supplying milk to homes in Northwich for decades, The Milk House is the new kid on the block.

The Comberbach dairy, which opened last year, sells its raw milk through a vending machine on-site called the Milkbot.

Chris Woodcock, from The Milk House, told the Guardian: "Raw milk hasn't been touched – it is fresh, straight from the cow.

"It is cooled down to four degrees, and then dispensed through the Milkbot.

"Our customers know that the milk is coming from our cows, and they get the health benefits of raw milk too."

Raw milk is neither homogenised nor pasteurised, so nutrients like iron and calcium are not broken up.

Chris claims this brings health benefits over regular milk, while the dairy's reusable glass bottles are also giving the environment a boost.

"More than half of our customers bring their glass bottle back, which they can keep clean," he said.

"That is what we are trying to push now, as there are so many benefits to reusing the glass bottle."

Meanwhile, Dale's Dairy, in Davenham, is seeing more people buy their regular milk in glass bottles.

John Maloney, from the dairy, told the Guardian that the push to cut down on plastic use has 'pricked people's imagination' – although dairies still struggle to compete with supermarkets on price.

He said: "When we first started it was all glass. We did not sell milk in plastic bottles until 1994.

"A lot of people say that they prefer it in glass bottles because it tastes better.

"Some old customers are asking to switch from plastic to glass, and we also have young families ordering milk from us for the first time.

"But I don't know how long it will last – it's never going to be like it was in the past."