Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder who’s Ridiculous idea that stupid piece of Plastic was…

157 replies

RingsOfSaturnn · 02/09/2023 17:02

Yes you know the one I’m talking about. I don’t even have to mention the bane of my existence! Whenever you see anybody drinking from one of these, it’s awkward and unintuitive. What a ludicrous and quite frankly futile exercise in trying to save the planet.

I am of course talking about the piece of plastic on bottle lids for soft drinks, meaning you cannot easily drink out the bottle anymore without it snapping back in your face or grating over your skin. It’s like we are being guilted and shamed for this, plastic water bottles don’t contain it, just soft drink ones.

I personally can’t stand them! And don’t know anybody who sits and says they are a good idea…

OP posts:
AgnesX · 02/09/2023 17:25

RingsOfSaturnn · 02/09/2023 17:08

I wasn’t really asking for feedback on how many bottles of coke I drink thanks!

Also you can never properly screw the lid back in with this piece of plastic still attached.

Show quote history

It's on sparkling water bottles too (Kirkland I think or Aqua Pura)

Agree, very annoying.

WetBandits · 02/09/2023 17:25

Gets on my tits too, OP! I can see why they’ve done it but it drives me nuts because I’ve never put a lidless bottle in the recycling before now anyway. Sick of the cap resting on my nose 😂

msbevvy · 02/09/2023 17:27

I have arthritic hands and had to get help to open and close one of these bottles the other day. I thought it was a one off manufacturing fault as I never usually have problems with coke bottles.

I now realise that it is yet another change that manufacturers have made that will make life more difficult for me.

Bingus · 02/09/2023 17:28

I agree OP! I don't mind the idea, just the execution of it.

See also paper straws!

CantThinkOfANameAtAll · 02/09/2023 17:29

So they are using more plastic to save plastic? I don't see lots of lids littering the place either, they are usually screwed back onto the bottles (which are then thrown on the ground).

almostoverthehill · 02/09/2023 17:29

RingsOfSaturnn · 02/09/2023 17:18

Silly reply.

Youre assuming that millions of bottler owners unscrew the lifsband discard of those separately. Just not true! Most people screw the lid back on before disposal. They are trying to solve a problem that isn’t there. I now actually remove the lid and I’m not careful about screwing it back on anymore (because it’s so difficult!) so if anything they’re just increasing the amount of litter and micro plastics that are going into the ground or into the oceans.

Show quote history

Not as silly as your original post 🤦🏻‍♀️

whatdoidonowffs · 02/09/2023 17:30

They’ve done it yop yoghurt bottles to and unless you lick the top out it invariably drips out of the lid and on your top 🤬

TheAOEAztec · 02/09/2023 17:30

msbevvy · 02/09/2023 17:27

I have arthritic hands and had to get help to open and close one of these bottles the other day. I thought it was a one off manufacturing fault as I never usually have problems with coke bottles.

I now realise that it is yet another change that manufacturers have made that will make life more difficult for me.

But it will help to mitigate super rich people's waste and carbon footprint AND when the bottle is sold abroad to "recycle" and inevitably ends up in the sea, it will be safer for the fishes surely😇❤️

1daughterand3sons · 02/09/2023 17:31

I've gone back to drinking cans of coke. The lids pissed me off a few weeks back both mine a DDS drink never closed properly and leaked in the baby's changing bag on a day out.
I refuse to buy bottles now

TheAOEAztec · 02/09/2023 17:31

Bingus · 02/09/2023 17:28

I agree OP! I don't mind the idea, just the execution of it.

See also paper straws!

Which will be going soon because they are actually bad. And not just as in bad for use! Infuriating

Bonjovispjs · 02/09/2023 17:33

Totally agree, I hate them too.

Nugg · 02/09/2023 17:33

Hate this. It is new and it's so you recycle it with the bottle apparently. I drink bottled water when out and about and they've made the lods smaller somehow too. I have RA and I really struggle to open their studiedly shallow lids now as well as the kid slapping my face while I drink.

Needmorelego · 02/09/2023 17:33

They are a pain because to do the bottle back up you have to do a kind of lift and line up of the bottle top to make sure it doesn't leak. You often don't realise it isn't done up properly until it's leaked all over your bag.
This is why I prefer Pepsi - who don't have this nonsense 😂

MargaretThursday · 02/09/2023 17:34

DD has one hand and they're really awkward for her.

Nugg · 02/09/2023 17:34

Oh and I can't screw them back on well. They always seem to go on wonky. Assholes.

HealthConcern · 02/09/2023 17:38

RingsOfSaturnn · 02/09/2023 17:18

Silly reply.

Youre assuming that millions of bottler owners unscrew the lifsband discard of those separately. Just not true! Most people screw the lid back on before disposal. They are trying to solve a problem that isn’t there. I now actually remove the lid and I’m not careful about screwing it back on anymore (because it’s so difficult!) so if anything they’re just increasing the amount of litter and micro plastics that are going into the ground or into the oceans.

Show quote history

Are you saying that you're so irritated about this that you're now planning to pollute the environment out of spite (by pulling off the lid and discarding it separately)?

gillygeey · 02/09/2023 17:39

I was actually drinking coke (a rare occurrence) yesterday & thought there was something wrong with the bottle top 😆

off · 02/09/2023 17:45

I don't remember it, but I've been told that there was similar annoyance from some people several decades ago, when we moved from drinks cans where the ringpull and tab entirely came away from the can, to ringpulls that push the (potentially grubby) tab down into your drink and leave the ringpull in place but slightly sticking up, in the way of your nose. IIRC that was for environmental reasons too, as those did get discarded wherever the drinker happened to be. But I bet the environmentally-friendly but potentially annoying modern ringpull design never annoyed you this much, because it's normal to you. In a few years, the annoying attached lids will probably feel similarly normal to us, assuming we still buy drinks in single-use plastic.

TheAOEAztec · 02/09/2023 17:50

We used to get money back where i grew uo for glass bottles. Then they moved to plastic ones for soft drinks. You can still get money in shops in machines. Plus shops take back majority of glass ones too still and return your deposit. Missed that in uk.

ohhhhfffsss · 02/09/2023 17:52

I thought you were talking about drinking from a sheewee.

Sprogonthetyne · 02/09/2023 17:53

Are they an environment thing? I had assumed they were just to stop you loosing the lid, so you could put it away for later if you didn't finish it (I only buy bottled drinks when on holiday, so the explanation wasn't in English).

I found it handy that I could drink with one hand and have the other hand free, instead of having to holding the lid.

binglemyoats · 02/09/2023 17:56

Everyone replying is weird, OP.

I totally get it and I hate it! I wondered whether they'd started doing something different...the bloody plastic bit from the ring never comes off now.

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr · 02/09/2023 17:57

just don’t buy plastic bottles of shit, take a nice reusable refillable bottle with you

jazzyfips · 02/09/2023 17:58

I just rip it off

Rtc12 · 02/09/2023 18:01

Ah, I didn't realise this was what it was for. I always get annoyed and how hard I have to pull to remove it! Ha! They are v annoying!