Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

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:
Crochetpenguin · 02/09/2023 21:09

I find these tops hard to screw back on. I've always recycled the bottles by squeezing the air out and replacing lid in order to save room in the bin.

12345change · 02/09/2023 21:09

@LucyLoopyLu interesting information thanks. I still personally think it’s greenwashing and it certainly does nothing to help those with disabilities or illness that make opening bottles like this even more difficult.

Personally I’m disappointed they’re not pushed more by the EU and governments to do more to reduce their plastic pollution and make their products more accessible and more green.

CKL987 · 02/09/2023 21:16

I just twist it round a few times until it breaks off. I agree that it is annoying though.

XDownwiththissortofthingX · 02/09/2023 21:22

GuardiansPlayList · 02/09/2023 17:24

Push it right back and it stays fixed out of the way. I like them. No more dropping the lids.

This.

Baffling the number of people who haven't figured out that it's designed to lock under the lip around the bottle and stay completely out of the way when you are drinking. 🤔

JustKen · 02/09/2023 21:37

Robinbuildsbears · 02/09/2023 17:22

I hate it too. Also the patronising "see if you can open this wrapper in one piece" thing they put on KitKat's now, because apparently it makes the plastic wrapper easier to recycle. Ignoring the fact that the paper and foil wrapper was much easier to open and to recycle.

Kitkats taste weird in the new wrapping. Chemical/plasticky. I've gone right off them.

Alopeciabop · 02/09/2023 21:45

As someone who is from a touristy place, I can tell you this is actually a great idea - fair enough maybe it’s annoying and needs some re-engineering to stop it poking you in the face - but my lord bottle lids everywhere is such a pain.

Orbitold · 02/09/2023 21:45

No but hang on - all the plastic recycling bins say you can’t recycle lids! How’s this going to help save the planet?!

listsandbudgets · 02/09/2023 21:47

YANBU OP. I'm sick of them - I seem to be an expert at catching my finger and getting little cuts from the barbed bits of plastic and the lid gets in my way when I'm trying to drink.

I end up tearing them off, struggling to get the lid back on the bottle and then ditching the lid separately then the bottle. In the past I'd squash the bottle down and put the lid on so the air didn't come back in and chuck it way altogether. Now my bottle won't stay properly squashed so I'm filling the recycling bin quicker

The new design is a pain in the proverbial

Clingfilm · 02/09/2023 21:50

Agree OP!

I didn't even realise it was an intentional design until someone pointed out the writing on the lid, I'd been ripping them off assuming I'd kept getting duff bottles!

Peterbarlow · 02/09/2023 22:16

When are people going to stop using who's instead of whose? Take out the apostrophe of who's and you're left with..to wonder who is ridiculous idea...
It's as irritating as literally being used in every other sentence AND never in its correct context.
HTH

bananaboats · 02/09/2023 22:49

They are annoying but I just rip them off no need to overthink it

Wishitsnows · 02/09/2023 22:51

Agree op. Totally ridiculous

ScarletWitchM · 02/09/2023 22:52

It’s an EU directive thing as most bottle lids and the plastic rings end up not in the bin and cause harm to wildlife. It’s annoying but not as annoying as paper straws

Universitynewbie · 02/09/2023 23:06

Greenwashing is illegal, this is not greenwashing, they are simply trying to stop the caps from slipping through the recycling 'net'

SistersNotCisters · 02/09/2023 23:46

My husband flooded the fridge with a 2ltr bottle of lemonade this week because that stupid piece of plastic got caught and didn't allow the lid to go back on properly. (And of course DH didn't notice) It managed to half fill the vegetable box and I had to piss about washing all my vegetables including a sopping lettuce without breaking it apart (or it wouldn't stay fresh as long).

F those stupid lid tethers.

AllLopsided · 03/09/2023 00:04

"Baffling the number of people who haven't figured out that it's designed to lock under the lip around the bottle and stay completely out of the way when you are drinking. 🤔"

@XDownwiththissortofthingX How would that work on a two-litre bottle of milk which I don't want to drink out of but use to pour approximately 30ml of milk into two cups of tea 🤔 I have no intention of drinking from the bottle, which is incidentally so flimsy I already need both hands to pour from it.

It seems there are plenty of us who are infuriated by this. Maybe the R&D money could have been spend educating people about how to recycle plastic bottles and their lids instead of changing a perfectly good design? I already recycled me plastic bottles by putting the lid back on before putting the bottle and lid in the container. Assuming a percentage of people already do this, and a percentage will just rip the plastic connector off and recycle separately or not at all, what is the likely increase in people correctly recycling?

Added to this there is the waste from large bottles that won't realise properly. This will lead to both extra purchases to replace the waste (wasting more plastic) and fewer purchases from customers who say sod it and switch to a brand whose lids CAN be closed. (If the stupidity starts to apply to fruit juice I will be buying it from a nearby country that appears not to have lost the plot on this subject).

junbean · 03/09/2023 00:11

What everyone should be in an uproar about is the fact it’s greenwashing, not because it’s annoying. It’s greed disguised as saving the earth. Like 99% of what anyone, companies or governments say is lies so they can keep profiting. We’re screwed and our future generations are going to have a miserable existence because of it and extra little plastic bits are only making it worse.

Gettingbysomehow · 03/09/2023 00:39

I hate those bloody things, they are on spring water bottles to which i occasionally buy if I'm on a long journey. They are impossible to manage without crashing the car unless its just me.

givemeasunnyday · 03/09/2023 01:43

I'm not in the UK and haven't seen them here. Can't you just cut it off, or if there is nothing handy maybe just twist it a few times until it breaks off?

user1473878824 · 03/09/2023 01:59

RingsOfSaturnn · 02/09/2023 17:07

No. They have recently installed a ‘planet saving device’ on all coke and soft drink bottles. It attaches the lid to the bottle at all times so when you are drinking from it if you aren’t paying closely guarded attention you get your face scraped by a barbed piece of plastic.

Show quote history

I find it irritating but it’s never once hit me in the face and they’re not made of razor wire even if they did.

Tjjd2023 · 03/09/2023 05:04

I find them more annoying than without it but don't find it that big of a deal!

Of course because you haven't seen the caps being washed up on beaches or wherever, there must not be a problem.🤨

babbscrabbs · 03/09/2023 05:11

RingsOfSaturnn · 02/09/2023 18:08

The entire industry are doing things that ‘look’ environmentally friendly whilst pumping toxic sludge into rivers! Fascinating isn’t it?

Show quote history

If you're concerned about the environment, best to drink from a can (well, best not to drink Coke at all but you know what I mean). They can be almost infinitely and fairly efficiently recycled into a good quality material. Unlike plastic.

It does seem quite greenwashing. Having said that it didn't bother me the one time I had the attached cap.

Whowhatwherewhenwhy1 · 03/09/2023 06:36

Well my 7 year old managed to snap it off so I am sire you will cope.

tooanxious · 03/09/2023 06:46

I hate them too OP

Canuck48 · 03/09/2023 07:01

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.

You can get things that help with opening bottles. I am
brainfarting on the name right now but it will grip on the bottle top and gives you a handle for easier opening. Works well, I have used them
before due to wrist injuries.