Who Killed the 21st Century Milkman?

It made headlines here in Canada five years ago this spring.

It was an attempt at reuse on a large scale.

A new initiative was launched to help tackle our plastic problem.

It is called Loop and it's billed as a new way for consumers to shop.

Loop promised a new way to buy our everyday stuff in solid, durable, reusable containers that would be shipped back, cleaned, and reused again and again and again.

Loop will feature everything from Hidden Valley salad dressing to Cascade dishwashing pods to Dove deodorant.

Procter & Gamble, Unilever, PepsiCo, they're among those bringing their well-known brands on board and more are expected to follow.

It was a simple idea in a way, but it got a lot of observers excited, like Lisa McTighe Pierce, a journalist who remembers covering it.

When Loop launched, it took so many people by surprise.

An entirely new concept that had every step of the infrastructure already thought out and implemented.

Holy cow.

And yet I never got a chance to try Loop.

After that initial hubbub, the pilot projects folded and the whole idea seemed to be tossed in the bin and carted out of sight.

So what happened to Loop? And could a milkman model for the 21st century like it was trying ever really work? Well, tracking that story down took me someplace slightly unexpected, deep into the suburban sprawl of New Jersey.

It made headlines here in Canada five years ago this spring.

It was an attempt at reuse on a large scale.

A new initiative was launched to help tackle our plastic problem.

It is called Loop and it's billed as a new way for consumers to shop.

Loop promised a new way to buy our everyday stuff in solid, durable, reusable containers that would be shipped back, cleaned, and reused again and again and again.

Loop will feature everything from Hidden Valley salad dressing to Cascade dishwashing pods to Dove deodorant.

Procter & Gamble, Unilever, PepsiCo, they're among those bringing their well-known brands on board and more are expected to follow.

It was a simple idea in a way, but it got a lot of observers excited, like Lisa McTighe Pierce, a journalist who remembers covering it.

When Loop launched, it took so many people by surprise.

An entirely new concept that had every step of the infrastructure already thought out and implemented.

Holy cow.

And yet I never got a chance to try Loop.

After that initial hubbub, the pilot projects folded and the whole idea seemed to be tossed in the bin and carted out of sight.

So what happened to Loop? And could a milkman model for the 21st century like it was trying ever really work? Well, tracking that story down took me someplace slightly unexpected, deep into the suburban sprawl of New Jersey.