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?

Stab the seal with a pencil. Job done.

YABU. Sorry for your inconvenience, but fucking up the environment even more than it is cannot be an option. Single use plastic must be phased out completely. There are lots of reusable options available to you.

Decant some juice/smoothie from a larger into a small water bottle instead of getting the small cartons? I’ve got a small (330ml ish?) Klean Kanteen which fits in the dishwasher so that sort of thing would be ideal. The Capri sun packets were terrible even with plastic straws, used to just punch straight through to the other side.
I just put the veg loose in the basket/trolley except for small things like mushrooms which I take a reusable bag for.

The paper straws are rubbish, I agree. A mesh bag is great for the supermarket. Trouble is the planet is in big trouble so we need to adapt or the consequences aren’t going to be good.

You dont need bags for fruit and veg. Just put it in the trolley.

Buy reusable straws.

Sorry OP, but you are being really stupid. We need to cut out the plastic and the are 2 issues where it makes absolutely no difference to your life. It isnt difficult to make these changes.

@justanotherneighinparadise

This one's on offer for £11 . Seems to be steriliser safe.

www.amazon.co.uk/NUK-Stainless-Steel-Learner-Blue/dp/B00KW4F8G0/ref=asc_df_B00KW4F8G0?hvlocphy&linkCode=df0&hvnetw=o&hvlocint&th=1&hvdev=c&hvadid=80058247183149&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-4583657825135106

Juice cartoons are bad for him and bad for the environment. Buy a reusable drinks bottle rather than disposable cartons every day. Ideally with water in but if he's not used to that then put a splash of squash in.

Just don't buy them.. or buy bigger bottles and decant into a reusable cup?
I'm surprised your school allows sugary drinks though. Water only at ours.

I can’t stand paper straws. There must be a better alternative! They disintegrate before you’ve finished the drink and the feel of them in my mouth makes me shudder. I avoid anything that might need a straw now.

Very small inconveniences to your life in the grand scheme of things, doing away with plastic bags and straws is saving lives and helping the planet 😁

Send your son his drink in a reusable drinks bottle that he can open easily and you can get reusable bags for fruit and veg to take shopping with you, simple solutions 😁

I have to say I get the rage when I see innocent’s tv ad about the environment, from a brand owned by Coca Cola that sells all its products in plastic bottles and difficult-to-recycle tetra paks... greenwashing pure and simple

Another one with a Capri sun incident... all over my sons school shirt just after I’d done a white wash as well. A tear off corner would be a better solution.

@HollysBush

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.

I don’t really find it a problem for big things like apples and baking potatoes. How is it any different to having 8 tins of beans? They’re a similar size.

I cannot cope with paper straws at all. Their texture is utterly utterly horrible, (shudder)

I agree with the Capri suns - there isn't an alternative solution to the sharp hard plastic. I support an autistic boy who won't drink anything else and we've had some epic meltdowns since they introduced the paper straws as he gets upset when it spills. The manufacturer really does need to think of another solution and change the whole packaging if necessary

This is AIBU the views posted on here are not necessarily those of the person posting them.

I'm cringing that you've complained many times to large supermarkets that you can't fit bananas and large jacket potatoes into paper bags. We've got no hope

[quote Cadent]@justanotherneighinparadise

This one's on offer for £11 . Seems to be steriliser safe.

]][/quote]
Bless you. Thank you for looking. I did grab at the term ‘sippy cup’ knowing it didn’t quite describe what I meant. I was being lazy. I mean some sort of top that flips up with a spout so small children wouldn’t throw the contents all down themselves.

My kids are terrible for losing their stuff or damaging them, so I don’t want to spend too much. Equally much of what I’ve found at the price point is either too small and in covid times the teachers don’t want to refill so ask for big bottles of water. Or else the reviews are terrible.

Get a decent water bottle (my DC have Klean kanteen) and fill it up with squash. I don’t know why anyone still buys disposable cartons.

Paper straws are so awful! I read somewhere that a lot of them aren't actually recyclable either because of the film on them.

I didnt actually know it was a government ban until a PP said. My local five guys and burger king both still have plastic straws.

Mesh bags and stainless steel straws, easy.

I agree on the straws - and they're a littkw redundant when they come with a whole single use drink carton.

My only issue with paper bags is that they allow stuff to dry out in the fridge. I like the compost able ones that waitrose do, though I made the mistake of putting one down on a freshly wiped surface, once. That was messy.

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!
I use cotton drawstring bags for loose stuff and wouldn't even bother individually bagging a bunch of bananas - they conveniently stay together, after all.

Also the paper straws on drinks cartons are all sealed in a little plastic bag anyway. Obviously it’s been better to move away from single use cartons altogether but it does seem a bit of a nonsense sometimes.

@Rubyupbeat

Mesh bags and stainless steel straws, easy.

I would want to supervise kids with a stainless steel straw after that terrible story of the woman who fell on one and died. But squash in a bottle seems the obvious solution.