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?

Like a pp said I'm sure you can invent a solution! I'm the least practical person in the world and have found work arounds. (Reusable straw and my own Tupperware).

Yes it seems stupid when the actual Capri Sun pouch is still plastic. My dd likes a Capri Sun occasionally if she is out but switched to a different drink because of the paper straw.

I’m with you OP, paper straws on that type of packaging are annoying. And yes I do use a reusable bottle most of the time but sometimes you can just forget to take it or just want to give your child the occasional treat of a smoothie.

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.

Yeah, then it will definitely be fine in the lunch box

Nothing wrong with sending an occasional juice or smoothie. DC1 too struggles with the paper straws. Reusable straws would be great, and we have them at home, but it’s yet another thing that will never make its way home from school.

@Trisolaris

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

To be fair, this is how most people feel...hence the state the world is in.

Yanbu about how frustrating paper straws are. They are stupidly useless.

YANBU about the paper straws. The time it takes mine to get through a carton means the straw is a soggy bit of limp paper by the end and totally unusable.

YABU about the fruit and veg. I haven't put any, except mushroom, into any bag, plastic or paper for years. Loose in the trolley then into the big shopping bag.

Place a bic biro without the middle pen bit in said lunchbox and job done , and it can be reused again and again. Or use a metal straw and put it in lunchbox to bring home.
Does Tescos not have those vege bags that you can purchase and reuse ? I am in Italy and our vege bags are biogradeable but we get charged for them as well. We can use the reuseable bags if we want to .

I am 100% with you OP. DS got soaked trying to open his smoothie yesterday. I'm so annoyed, they're literally impossible to open with the paper straws which then go soggy too.

People like you moaning on and being obstructive is why the environment has got so wrecked in the first place. Just grow up and adapt.

Reusable straws would be great, and we have them at home, but it’s yet another thing that will never make its way home from school.

What about decanting the smoothie into a tupperware cup with a lid, or an empty water bottle with screw top - little Evian bottle? Or a small reusable drinks bottle with the straw inside?

@MistyFrequencies I could have written your post. The paper straws in smoothies and juice cartons have caused no end of meltdowns here with ASD DS. I have used metal straws and silicone straws but they weren't the same, so I ended up buying a bulk pack of normal bendy plastic straws from eBay and trimming them down to make them shorter. I do try and reuse them as many times as I can before they get binned though.

A couple of weeks ago I dropped a large baked potato straight through the paper bag and onto the floor of tesco. That was enough, but then it rolled for what felt about a bloody mile with me running hunched over grabbing at it I swear this thing was propelling itself!

Yes to the mesh bag for heavy veggies. I have one now.

And this is why we’re all screwed, because people’s desire for a smoothie is more important than the environment. They’re awful things but I don’t actually care what people feed their kids, I do care that they’re trashing the environment for mine though. Buy a bloody reusable bottle and stop whining!

@ButIWantedToBeYourValentine It's a balance isn't it. I try to be conscious of my impact on the environment but my son would end up with scurvy if I couldn't buy plastic straws for his innocent smoothies.. .. literally no other fruit gets past his lips. The days between innocent switching to paper straws and me finding alternative plastic ones were hell, half hour meltdowns every morning where he would keep looking for a smoothie then losing it once he saw the straw, inconsolable.

What?! You bag loose bananas and loose potato's? I don't think you're one for saving the environment. What a waste. Bring your own or just put them in the trolley. It'll be washed when you get back anyway.

As for the carton. Just put it in your own bottle in the morning. Job done.

I'm dyspraxic and could never open capri sun's with the plastic straws. Couldn't he have asked the kitchen staff to quickly snip off a corner and tip it into a normal cup.

YABU. Have you see pictures of what plastic straws do to animals, especially in the sea?

Don't be so bloody selfish!

He doesn't need a bloody Innocent smoothie, send him with something else.

And use metal or silicon or bamboo straws at home.

Sorry OP, I think you're being unreasonable.

There are loads of alternatives to what you're doing - give him a normal reusable bottle with a drink in, or just get him a reusable straw he can take in and bring home with him?

I do think it's stupid though that companies are using paper straws for unsuitable products, and should adapt their cartons to maybe include a corner you can drink out of or something?

As for fruit and veg, depends where you're getting it I guess by in my Tesco you weigh it in the fruit aisle and get a sticker with the price...that's all you need to put it through the till. Just put them in a normal bag once you've weighed them if that's an option?

YABU to buy sugary drinks made from concentrate and goodness knows what else.
Id send him with a bottle of water - which is all my two are allowed for school drinks.

@RancidOldHag

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

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

This.

There’s going to be a process of reinventing the wheel when it comes to plastic. The reason we LOVED it is because it worked. Now we need to go backwards again until we find something that’s works but also degrades.

Personally I’d either have an alternative plan for a straw or I’d decant the drink into a sealable cup. I have a load of plastic straws I’ve had for years, so I used to bring a couple when we went to McDonald’s. You also now have stainless steel straws and of course a better quality of paper straw you could buy separately and stick in the lunch box. Silicone straws aren’t going to pierce the film on a carton, so recommending those is pointless.

As an aside what I really want doesn’t seem to be available unless I pay an absolute fortune. I want a stainless steel sippy cup for my kids lunch. I also want it to be something I can sling in the dishwasher. Plus I want it to be less than a tenner. I wasted hours of my life last week searching for those and coming up with nothing 🤬

@Lou573

And this is why we’re all screwed, because people’s desire for a smoothie is more important than the environment. They’re awful things but I don’t actually care what people feed their kids, I do care that they’re trashing the environment for mine though. Buy a bloody reusable bottle and stop whining!

Yes I agree.

Unless there is a sensory/SN reason why a child needs these specific drinks, surely if they're not working in a packed lunch then they just get replaced with something that does work?

YABVVU

Every single bit of plastic ever invented, every single bit of plastic you've ever touched and seen in your life is still lingering on earth. Plastic doesn't ever disappear or dissolve, it simply breaks down into microplastics which animals and guess what?! HUMANS consume. Its in our food, it's in our organs, it's found in human placentas!!
www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/17/microplastic-particles-discovered-in-human-organs
www.eco-business.com/news/great-concern-as-new-study-finds-microplastics-in-human-placentas/

You don't like paper straws? Buy a foldable metal one. You don't like paper bags for veg? Do your bloody part and carry a fabric reusable one.

Open your fucking eyes.

Make a smoothie and put it in a bottle for fucks sake.

The environment is more important than your need for convenient pre packaged plastic shit.