Colleagues keep using my milk!

[Immo8]

I don't want to sound petty as in the grand scheme of things, milk isn't an expensive item and maybe I should leave this be, but it's really starting to grate on me...

Work in an office with around 30-ish staff, the majority are on shift work including weekends so people are in & out a lot. I work standard hours 4 days a week. The company provides tea & coffee but staff bring in their own milk etc. I buy a large filtered milk every month as it lasts and I only have a few cups of tea a day so makes sense.

However, over the last 6 months or so, people will ask me if they can 'borrow' some milk. I would never say no to someone asking but they NEVER bring in their own milk or buy one to replace mine that they've used over the weeks...

Today, I brought in a brand new milk, name on it, placed it at the back of the fridge so hard to find, and I've just gone to make a cuppa and it's been opened without asking, and a 1/4 of it has gone!

How do I word an email to my colleagues (if people think I should) that is polite and doesn't sound too petty?

Put it in a tuppaware container with a note on it saying "breast milk"

Love this! I was going to say decant into a plain bottle and label it 'goats milk' but this is better!

If you work for a local authority you won't get milk or tea and coffee provided. It's public funds and not considered value for money.

I heard this about a girl at my university - her parent would bake her a cake, and somehow manage to post it to her. Her flatmates liked the cake, and started helping themselves, even if the girl didn't tell them they could have some. So she wrote on a bit of paper inside the tin "fuck off greedy." No cake was ever filched again 😂

I had this in a work place and used the medela breast milk bottles after I had finished feeding. It mostly worked. The days it didn't made me deeply troubled about the people I worked with.

Definitely love this idea. And also buy some of the little pots for yourself.
Or just buy a pack of long life milk and hand the receipt into accounts. They won't mind.

Incredibly mean that the company doesn't provide milk. We have this at work. Not only issues with a free for all in the fridge but also the staffroom. And, I even someone nicking my squash from my office. Or my butter- i do love toast or a roll at lunch. Nothing is safe. The entitlement baffles me.

Buy a cheap baby bottle and put your daily milk in that.

Unfortunately, and wrongly I think that I'd you wrote an email or a note it would be seen as you being petty. Just quietly change your habits. Or alternatively suggest a whip - 2 quid each person to cover milk and butter. Or whatever they want and keep the money at work. Take money out to buy the bits that are communal and replace with a receipt. And then repeat as needed.

Yeah dont do this lol someone will spit in it too out of spite

Everyone is probably thinking you won't miss just a little from a big bottle. Can you write "SARAH SMITH /PLEASE DO NOT STEAL THIS MILK" in thick marker pen so anyone using it is obvious to colleagues?

Given they probably have no shame, decanting into smaller/non-obvious containers is probably your best bet. Bit of a faff.

It's miserable of the company not to provide milk though, I guess they found that got stolen too.

to be honest I know it’s an expense but you have 2 issues here, 1 is you can’t say no to those that bother asking and 2 you have some people taking without asking anyway, so if I was you I’d stop putting my milk in the communal fridge at all. I’d buy a mini fridge for your personal office space and put some in there. If a full bottle won’t fit then bring a flask in that will last for the day. I think it will be worth the £20-£30 spend on a mini fridge in the long run!

Some of these are good ideas - might be worth starting a milk kitty or float. Maybe people would be happy to contribute? But otherwise maybe decant some into a flask. I think it is a shame to have to take UHT milk in because the packaging is wasteful. How annoying.

Put it in a different bottle. Why on earth don’t you all just pool some ££s to buy milk?

That's been tried in the past, but you'd have people who didn't opt it but would still use the milk...so the amount of time taken to organise it was just pointless! Plus people like to use different milks etc.

There's no real solution if you're going to continue keeping personal milk in a shared kitchen. (Don't get me wrong, you should be able to do so, but there'll always be at least one person who will dip into your supply.) Either accept it, go without milk or bring a small amount of milk in each day in a thermos.

Those udder locks work. You have a key which goes over the lid and needs both to unlock. amzn.eu/d/7R8447B

This is great!

Please don't! You'll look a complete a**e. This is a problem as old as time itself. Even when I parked my cow under my desk, colleagues would get out their three-legged stool and have a shifty milk of her while I was in the lavatory.
Seriously, though, the only way around the issue @Immo8 , is as others have suggested, bring a flask of milk and keep it on your desk!

this might help https://www.hartsofstur.com/grunwerg-drink-pod-0-2-litre-stainless-steel-hcf-200ss.html?utm_source=awin&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=awin_channel&sv1=affiliate&sv_campaign_id=1131807&awc=32187_1737028955_866fa3d4cb1f56d0714c83fe0c340866

Could you get like a nice little pot with milk contribution (any change in here will go towards milk for everyone to use) to leave on the side or something

I solved this at my work place by using a tiny lemonade bottle to take a few cups worth of milk in from home. Nobody used it when they weren't sure exactly what was in the bottle.

You could just point out that a lot of people seem to have 'run out of milk' when they want a tea or a coffee so perhaps there should be a kitty to finance collective milk.
If no one is interested, I would go with the put the milk in a metal water bottle suggestion.

If pooling didn't work how about an honesty box (can also include a qr code for those that don't carry cash), where people pop 10p in every time they use the milk and if there is any profit leftover it is donated to charity?

This is why I only drink fruit or mint tea at work, don't want to take in milk or steal from anyone!

Either everyone pitches in for milk, you get an udder lock or my personal fave get some lansinoh bottles and label it as breast milk

You've never worked in the public sector 😀