Paper straws in drinks cartons FFS!

[QueenOfMe]

So DC came home for the 2nd time in a row yesterday with half a carton of Innocent smoothie all over his shirt and the rest of it leaked in his lunchbox. Had the same with his lunchbox drink, Capri Sun, so I had to stop using them.

Why, oh why would they put papers straws for drinks cartons which need to be pierced!? They are almost impossible to open. When I tried one myself I got juice all over the table after 10 minutes of trying to open it.

I’m all for saving the environment but not when it’s not workable!

Similarly Tesco have paper bags now for loose fruit and veg. The damn things rip as soon as you put more than one thing in them. If you’re picking up jacket potatoes for eg. you can only put one in a bag. Same with apples and bunches of bananas! I’ve complained many times but have been told they won’t be changed back to plastic!

It’s bloody ridiculous or AIBU?

Get a reusable, washable silicone straw for use with cartons.

Take your own reusable bag/s for loose fruit and veg

Surely you have the wherewithal to think something up to resolve these issues without wanting to increase plastic usage.

Reusable mesh bags are the way to go for fruit and veg. Reusable drinks bottle rather than cartons too.

These drinks are full of sugar and bad for us let alone the environment. Can you not send him in with squash in a plastic reusable bottle?

Bananas don't need to go in a bag, plastic, paper or otherwise. Ditto jacket spuds

Yes, yabu obviously. As others have said you need to find another solution that works for you.

Funnily enough I had a takeaway delivered yesterday that came with a Capri Sun and I really struggled to get the straw in, and got soaked in the process!

I have no problem with the paper bags for fruit and veg though, as I was brought up with all the Greengrocers using them and I've always thought plastic was unnecessary.

Potatoes and bananas can go in loose, and so long as you put your hand under the bag rather than holding onto the edge and dropping them in you should get more than one apple in a bag....personally I put everything in loose other than things like cherries etc which need a bag. It saves a lot of hassle and a lot of plastic/paper

The straws I agree are impossible for piercing drinks cartons.

You only want to save the environment when it’s convenient? 🤦🏻‍♀️

You have complained "many times" to Tesco over paper fruit and veg bags? There is no need to put potatoes or bunches of bananas all in separate bags anyway.

Yabu. Neither me or my kids have found any problems piercing with a paper straw and you obviously just need to find alternatives for your son. Make a homemade smoothie and send it in a reusable bottle.

The irony is that the impact on the environment of a tiny plastic straw is insignificant compared with that of the disposable container!

Yes most fruit and veg goes in loose. I may need a bag when I buy sprouts!
That said I buy pre packaged stuff Eg cherries, raspberries so that's even worse

Things like smoothies and Capri Sun aren’t really healthy. Can’t they just drink water? I think rather than paper bags, you can take your own reusable bags for fruit and veg. Probably not what you want to hear though.

Paper is very high in carbon emissions compared to plastic - not as good for the environment as everyone seems to believe. The problem with plastic is that it isn't correctly disposed of - if it was, the fact that it never rots would actually be very good for the planet as it is essentially sequestered carbon. A lot of these plastic reductions and replacements have knock on effects that are worse for the environment while also having a negligible effect on overall ocean plastic as things like straws are such a tiny percentage of it.

I got reusable mesh bags for fruit and veg for 30p each. I have also used one as my toiletry bag when travelling as I can see everything.

Just because paper bags are available doesn't mean they should be the default option, they should be used if you really need them, people need to get into the mindset of reusable.

Capri sun should be an occasional thing, presumably you can pierce the hole with something else at home (a corkscrew) or have a reusable straw.

We all need to be aiming to reduce our consumption of single use plastics consistently and consciously.

YANBU
We switched to big bottles of smoothies and a plastic Tupperware-type cup because of this (is also much better value!). DD won’t drink it now that she can see what it looks like though, so she’s taking fruit juice instead.
Actually PMSL at the posters who want you to pierce the carton with a silicon straw, or pierce it with a corkscrew before leaving home! I’m sure that wouldn’t be at all messy

Sucking on a paper straw is just gross, quite apart from the mess. And in supermarkets that don't have small bags, slightly leaky bags of flour, sugar etc. are disposed of rather than just popped in a bag - is that any better for the environment?

Bananas need to go in a bag?? Wtf? Why? They have their own wrapper. As do potatoes.

I have a kid with autism whose only fruit intake was innocent smoothies. Fucking paper straws ended that. I've managed to purchase a box of similar straws off Amazon they seem to be ok for his sensory oddities but only god knows what we are going to do once they're gone. I've tried silicone, bamboo, stainless steel straws, nothing works.

Surprised people saying jacket spuds don’t need a bag, what if you buy 8? They’ll be all over the place! I have reusable veg bags. And op, I’m afraid a refillable bottle is the way to go.

Because the government introduced a ban on the supply of plastic straws and a plastic tax, which made it inevitable that manufacturers would need to find alternative solutions.

It’s not all about the amount of plastic in a straw, but that they end up in water supplies and kill animals in the ocean.

Yeah just came on to say get your own reusable straws to keep in lunchbox. And your own reusable bags for fruit ..its really not difficult to adapt.

You can still buy recyclable plastic straws. Just get a huge box of them and make sure he returns it so you can recycle it

You've scared me now... pretty much the only fruit my daughter ever gets is from a certain flavour of the Innocent smoothies. Has a carton in her lunch box every day. And no, she won't accept a home-made version or quite frankly any other version. Given that she won't take vitamins either, those smoothies were the one thing saving her from scurvy.

She also hates paper straws, they're a sensory nightmare within a minute or two as they become soggy and it sounds like the Innocent ones don't work to pierce the seal anyway? I think we must be on our last one or two of an old batch if they've recently been changed - now worried that tonight's shopping delivery will contain 20 undrinkable smoothies...

Reusable straws or better still buy a bottle for his packed lunch and refill (like we did when we were young. We had kids flasks in our lunch boxes)

Capri sun is just squash, think of the savings!