AN organic dairy has been inundated with requests for milk in bottles following BBC’s Blue Planet II showing the dangers plastic waste has on wildlife and the environment.

After the screening, Acorn Dairy, which serves the North-East and North Yorkshire, was contacted by 250 existing customer households to switch from recyclable poly cartons to glass bottles.

At roughly 106g of plastic per average weekly carton milk order, this equates to 1.378 tonnes per annum of plastic waste saved by them alone.

Caroline Bell, dairy director, said: “I think we were all horrified by the pictures of whales surrounded by plastic waste and the impact this is having on our world. The response from our customers has been heart-warming showing the large impact that can be made by households taking their own individual action.

“We handle almost one million glass bottles a year. An average Acorn Dairy glass pint bottle is used 19 times before being recycled and we have to buy in about 17,000 annually to replenish our stocks.

“In our local delivery area, we supply the glass bottles at 59p to the doorstep and we have seen a four-fold increase across a month in new customers with the same mission of receiving their milk in glass bottles. “These are local people converting from supermarket milk to ours, which is excellent.”

Mrs Bell said they had also received inquiries from catering establishments and hotels about switching to glass bottles and she was looking forward to them following the eco-trend.

Acorn Dairy, which became organic more than a decade ago, enjoys an enviable reputation for conservation, compassion and commercial enterprise.

Brother and sister Caroline Bell and Graham Tweddle operate their farm and dairy at Archdeacon Newton, near Darlington. They have won many awards including the organic ‘Oscar’ issued by the Soil Association and the Good Dairy Award by Compassion in World Farming, the international welfare campaign group.

Acorn has a loyal following of 4,000 doorstep customers, schools, cafes, restaurants and supermarkets including Waitrose and Morrisons, right across the North-East and North Yorkshire.

Its herd of Shorthorns offer a natural rate of milk production, which is less than in an intensive farming system, allowing the cows to live longer, happier and healthier lives.

The farm has a thriving wetland for flora and fauna, birds and small mammals. Bird boxes have a 90 per cent occupancy rate while miles of hedgerows provide safe passage and homes for myriad creatures.