Yes I am aware that they’re somehow supposed to reduce plastic waste because the cap can’t get lost … unless you cut it off, of course.
Yes I am also aware that there are people with disabilities (shaky hands, weak grip, etc.) who are thankful for these and actually like the design. Good for them, and I mean that in a non-sarcastic way.
But personally, I hate these things with all the “first world problems” rage I can muster and go out of my way to rip / cut / twist them off on every single bottle I buy. I don’t like having the bottle cap directly in my face while drinking, or slipping in the way of the flow whenever I just want to pour milk, and on more than one occasion, I’ve actually cut my finger OR lip on these little sh*ts (not the same type as in the picture, but baldy-made longer “bands” that leave little plastic spikes on the cap and/or band).
No idea whether I should post this in the “unpopular opinion” section instead or if other people think the same, but to me, “mildly infuriating” describes them perfectly.
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So happy we don’t have these caps
This is some very short sighted thinking.
Caps attached to the bottles is very important to the recycling industry, so they can be more cheaply and efficiently shipped to China and thrown into the sea.
Source on that? As far as I know China stopped importing plastic waste as they realized it was too expensive for the state as they are burdened with the externalities, i.e. cleanup.
I think a few years ago it was China. Now it will be anybody else who wants Western money and doesn’t mind burning plastic. Malaysia and Turkey seem popular for the UK. Not sure where the US sends it. It sure as shit isn’t recycled in any way that people would think of as recycling.
I’ve no idea why we make plastic bottled drinks when aluminium cans exist.
Aluminum cans also have plastic in them
Not nearly as much though.
Also steel cans exist as well.
I don’t understand why caps coming with bottles helps recycle them?
Small bits like caps can’t get sorted for recycling for some reason, so they’re just “waste” instead of recyclable
what i think when people struggle with the cap hitting their face
Pretty much. Whenever I see these type of posts I can only think of some cavemen failing to figure out the most simple contraption. Those caps are literally not a problem at all, assuming you’re not a complete moron.
ooooh. It’s IN the computer.
Its often the little things like this that make it clear for me who is indeed a moron.
Like oh, omg, that explains so much about that person.
That poor thing.Now, I def need to not equate that with ‘capabilities’ of someone, even morons can brute-force achieve things I could never. They do it despite the handicap and I respect that.
Dont want to discuss problems or brainstorm when them but respect nonetheless (them and their work).
Most of us are in fact not what it’s commonly considered neurotypical (I beehive they are a smol but just the most vocal group). And just like with folk on introverts/depressed/ADHD/autism/etc spectrum it’s best to recognise, acknowledge, respect, and adapt to that (ie work and communicate a bit differently with each one of us, it doesn’t take all that much, and the learning curve is just so unbelievably good at the start).
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It doesn’t have to touch your face.
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bamboo or metal straws
Silicone. Silicone is the perfect straw material. Bamboo I guess works for disposable ones but I’ve never used one. Definitely too short for 1.5l bottles though.
Yes, this is exactly it.
Is we just invented bottle caps for the fist time ever these exact same peeps would complain about it.
I honestly like them. Those that “stay open”, of course… They just stay out of the way, never get lost, and works pretty nice.
At first I disliked them, but quickly found out they are actually… Very practical. Even not considering the “green” twist, why didn’t we adopted them before?
As an idiot who couldn’t remember where the fuck I put down the cap 5sec ago I really like them
If everyone had either stopped buying bottled beverages or cleaned up after themselves, this wouldn’t be an issue.
Also, y’all sound a little whiny. This isn’t even a first world problem.
it’s mildly infuriating to OP, and it’s something that’s mildly infuriating
stopped buying bottled beverages
What’s the alternative in your opinion? I don’t think barrels and glasses are viable in every case. Serious question.
You could get a reusable water bottle
Dihydrogen monoxide
You’re coming up with a sarcastic exaggeration (barrels and glasses), followed by “serious question”. So which is it now?
Anyway. How about refillable cups, travel mugs, returnable bottles? Stop buying bottled water if your tap water is fine. Get a soda maker if you like sparkling water or Spritzer. Clean up after yourselves, return or throw away bottles with the lid on.
And first and foremost: stop buying packaged and bottled sh*t at every possible occasion. Things like single-use / to-go cups or bottles shouldn’t even exist.
We all created the landfills and ocean garbage patches and now we complain about our own stupidity, unable to drink from a bottle with a lid attached to it like we’re toddlers.
If you seriously ask me for an alternative: stop creating waste. Stop complaining about your waste. And stop complaining about regulations that try to limit waste that shouldn’t even be there. Big part of the problem stems from our own laziness and consumerism. Everyone is part of the problem, nobody wants to be a part of the solution. What did you even expect?
I hardly want to reply for your aggressiveness. I don’t see how that’s been called for.
But yes, I was being serious because you explicitly excluded all bottles by “bottled beverages”. So I thought, water can be replaced by tap water (I do that personally because I don’t want carry crates that are unnecessary) but what about beer, for example? I could order kegs (no sarcasm, they start at 5 liters) but can hardly take them with me.
So, by “bottled beverages” you don’t count “returnable bottles”. Apart from that differentiation not being obvious, it didn’t occur to me because in my country almost all sold bottles are returnable, even single-use ones.
Hope that clarifies my question. Maybe next time don’t immediately jump to conclusions and make assumptions about other people’s lifestyle.
Sorry, it’s aggravating to see people complain about bottle lids and not seeing what the bigger problem behind is.
We created this mess and now the least bad thing in this literal pile of garbage gets labelled ‘mildly infuriating’.
Your solution to people wanting to buy some specific drinks is “don’t buy the thing you want, buy something else”. Hardly an answer.
Why is it “hardly an answer”?
Getting everything you want at any time is part of the reason why the planet’s dying. Consumerism is not sustainable. Just one example: one wants a coffee and isn’t at home. Solution today: get a single-use plasticcy paper cup of coffee with an optional packaged portion of sweetener and / or cream, a plastic stirring thingy, and a plastic lid. All that goes to waste because people were led to believe that a “paper” cup is good for the environment. It isn’t.
I haven’t bought a plastic bottle beverage in forever*. I just get metal cans or glass bottles. Or nothing.
*I bought a lot of PET bottled beverages in Japan but I was just visiting.
They should make it so the cap doesn’t come off at all, so you have to buy a glass bottle with a metal cap that are both recyclable and won’t give you erectile disfunction.
If the cap doesn’t come off, we can stop worrying about spillage
I’ve scene water been titles that were made of the same materials as a soda can. The lid was even threaded so you could reseal it.
Fuck plastic bottles in general, back to glass.
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Have you ever heard about the Exota affair in the Netherlands? In 1969, journalists uncovered the glass bottles of Exota soda were explosion hazards and their scathing TV episode about it drove the company to bankruptcy. It became a whole ordeal after the journalists and broadcaster were sued.
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This generalization is a problem. Assessing the whole life cycle, the carbon footprint of glass bottles is problematic and plastics is a viable alternative.
You have to consider the significantly higher weight of glass increasing carbon emissions from transportation.
While plastics bottles can only be reused about half as often as glass bottles, their production is far more energy-efficient (glass production is done at temps of 1400-1600 °C or 2500-3000 °F while plastics use temperatures from 160-300 °C or 320-600 °F) which also reduces carbon footprint in basically every country.
Of course recycling has to be taken seriously and properly organized to prevent plastics just ending up in nature. But we have to balance the micro-plastics problem against climate change. We need to solve both.
It used to be done a lot more before and some places still do it in Europe. You return the glass bottle intact, they reuse it as is. Only carbon spent is in transporting it.
Well, you also have to clean them which I assume also uses energy. And they need to be fulfilling “food-grade” cleaning requirements since you want to drink out of them, so that’s probably more energy needed than a simple wash in soap.
This is done regardless of the source of the glass. IE fresh or reused glass gets the same cleaning treatment.
Yes (I actually live in Europe), but it cannot be reused indefinitely and needs to be recycled after about 50 uses (that’s why I mentioned the whole life cycle of a bottle). Also, glass breaks.
It’s done less and less because recycling plastic bottles is better.
You have to consider the significantly higher weight of glass increasing carbon emissions from transportation.
If the transportation was electrical renewable sourced this wouldn’t be a factor.
their production is far more energy-efficient (glass production is done at temps of 1400-1600 °C or 2500-3000 °F while plastics use temperatures from 160-300 °C or 320-600 °F)
If manufacturing was electrical renewable sourced this wouldn’t be a factor.
I don’t want micro plastics in my nutsack. I don’t care that it’ll be a long time before we get there. We should start getting there now. I don’t want to hear perfectionist fallacy arguments about why I should be happy to have plastics swimming around with my sperm.
I don’t want to hear perfectionist fallacy arguments
You mean like the ones you gave if there was a 100% renewable power grid and transportation was 100% electrical glass would be carbon neutral?
Well, both aren’t and we are a long way from either, so that argument stands. You may care about your nutsack, as do I about my own, but climate change is the more critical problem.
Yep, I can taste the fucking plastic. Back to glass!
Glass bottles are much much worse for the environment.
Just repeating my comment from the same topic a while back.
So okay the bottle ones like this are fine
It is these fuckers I have an issue with
I swear if I ever see the person who designed the new milk cap I will make them choke on a fucking tetrapak.
How come? Does it close while you’re pouring?
It makes you spill the milk everywhere when opening because you don’t twist it but pull it upwards.
Oh.
Yeah that’s fucking stupid
Am I the only person who’s literally never seen such a thing exist in the wild
Come to Germany for a visit.
Or Italy
The bottle cap folds out of the way. If you have it “in your face”, it sounds like a skill issue
Except they don’t fold but spring back to a position where the tension is low enough. Sadly that’s in my cheek.
Skill issue.
Certainly.
What a total noob
Yeah, only some bottles do that
Normally/averagely abled people - how is any configuration of the cap an issue?
To even think about it takes more energy than any obvious solution (like holding the bonded cap whilst drinking or not ripping it off the seal ring in the non-bonded versions).
Is it just because we are old and any change is annoying af?
Old man yells at cloud energy
my dad is disabled. had a stroke, shaky hands & stuff forever. he fuken h8’s these new caps. i personally don’t care much, unless i’m drinking yoghurt out of a bottle.
You can rotate the bottle before taking a sip to position it such that the cap doesn’t hit your face. You can also pour liquid out of the bottle without having it run into the cap using the same rotation technique before pouring.
Apparently this very advanced technique is too complicated for some people.
Just like not throwing the cap at some helpless plant when going to the supermarket recycling the bottle
I had quite some beef with the tethered caps in the beginning when they didn’t latch properly, but have since gotten used to them. That said:
- Cap on top -> Funny hat for nose!
- Cap on bottom -> Beard gets to take a moist nap.
- Cap on sides -> Mustache also gets to take a sip!
Obviously not much of a problem. I’d need to clean my facial hair either way if eating ice cream or other messy foods, but cap rotation might not be effective if your “face” sticks out 1-2cm from your mouth.
One could also attempt to rotate the cap in a way to achieve quantum tunneling, but I don’t feel that I’ve achieved that level of “tethered cap proficiency” yet.
I just rip them off. It’s a straight up pointless thing designed solely to annoy people while providing no benefit whatsoever.
People who defend that kind of shit probably believe that plastic straws were going to be the downfall of humanity.
You can rotate the bottle before taking a sip to position it such that the cap doesn’t hit your face.
And gravity will make the cap spin around, hit your face, get in the way of the liquid, and make it splash everywhere but your mouth.
You can also pour liquid out of the bottle without having it run into the cap using the same rotation technique before pouring.
Same issue. As soon as you tip the bottle the cap will spin (apparently whatever genius designed this useless annoyance didn’t realise that bottle necks are cylindrical), get in the way of the liquid, and make it spill everywhere but the container you’re trying to pour it into.
They’re like a Pythagorean cup without the temperance lesson and well thought out design.
The only way to use these without wasting 99% of the liquid and making a mess is to either awkwardly try to hold them up as you pour, or to violently rip them out before pouring in an entirely justified fit of righteous rage.
What an utterly infuriating waste of plastic, time, and money.
Does america have terrible bottle designs or something? Not one single bottle with tethered cap has ever freely spun, you can move it and it stays in that position
Luckily I’m not American, but I’ve never seen one of these contraptions that didn’t spin freely (and most of the ones I’ve seen spin freely and dangle all over the place, since the cap is tethered to the ring with a flexible strip of plastic).
It’s a weight attached to a ring placed around a cylinder, after all. It’s bound to spin freely, it’s inherent to the design.
The ones I am talking about don’t move under their own weight and gravity. If you held it with the cap upwards, it doesn’t rotate downwards unless you do it yourself
hence why getting hit in the face and struggling with a little cap is so puzzling to me
Y’know how you hold the bottle with your hand to lift it? Believe it or not, you can hold it by the neck, and even slightly touching the little plastic ring the cap is tethered to will keep it from spinning.
Y’know that physics principle called the lever principle, or principle of moment…?
Thing is, if you grab a bottle by the neck and try to tilt it, you have to deal with the whole momentum / mass of the bottle, which is a significant amount of torque on your wrist, especially if you’re awkwardly trying to hold a cap that’s clearly not designed to be held this way at the same time.
If you instead violently rip the cap out in an entirely justified fit of righteous rage and grab the bottle by it’s center of mass, as normal people do and have done since bottles have existed (well, except for the cap bit; that shit is rather new), you can effortlessly spin it to whatever angle you want, with perfect control all the way.
Of course you can always hold it with two hands, which might be what you meant, but that’s a rather stupid waste of a free hand when most bottles are designed to be holdable with one single hand.
If you can’t hold a small plastic bottle by the neck, you’ve got bigger problems than tethered caps.
I pick up street litter, and having picked up thousands of pounds, I have never felt that loose caps are a problem, let alone one that requires such a solution. The number of littered bottles, with or without a cap, is greater than the number of loose caps, and the amount of plastic in every bottle dwarfs the plastic in a cap. Fixing the cap to the bottle will do nothing to improve the recycling rate of plastic if entire bottles are already tossed anyway.
I consider the idea of cap tethers as adversarial memetic warfare thrust upon us for some unknown ulterior purpose, possibly to make us hate the very idea of environmental consciousness. Same as paper straws. I like plastic bag bans though.
As far as picking litter is concerned, I personally prefer finding bottles without a cap. At least those are empty, all liquid having evaporated after the bottle has spent several months in the bushes. The capped bottles are often half-full and are just nasty. (Who even pays for a bottle of drink and not drinks half of it anyway?)
The number of littered bottles, with or without a cap, is greater than the number of loose caps,
That smells like survivorship bias. Your dataset is skewed by loose caps being way harder to find due to being smaller. It stands to reason that all those bottles without a cap you find will have also had their cap littered in the vast majority of cases.
Yeah, I concede that small caps are more likely to be carried away by rainwater than whole bottles :D. What I meant was that for every loose cap on the ground there is a bottle lying around somewhere, and also there are bottles with caps on. No one is tossing their cap into the bushes and then taking the bottle to the recycling center.
