Tethered plastic caps

Submitted ⁨⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨ExtremeDullard@lemmy.sdf.org⁩ to ⁨mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world⁩

https://lemmy.sdf.org/pictrs/image/a318d79b-da87-4f94-b173-43ee0e948e41.png

I know they’re supposed to be good for the environment. But… Holy smokes they’re driving me up the wall. They really do!

I had no trouble adapting when aluminum can pull-tabs got replaced by push-tabs, because it was pretty much the same movement, and I could see the immediate advantage of not getting cut by a pull-tab.

But the tethered cap is fighting decades of muscle memory in me: I’m used to taking the cap off with one hand and keeping it there while taking a swig with the other. Now I unscrew the cap with one hand, but I still have to hold the cap so it’s out of the way. It feels like drinking in handcuffs each and every time…

So unlike the pull-tab, the tethered plastic bottle is one of those compulsory eco solutions that constantly make you feel ever-so-slightly more miserable all the time, and I hate that because ecology only works when it brings something of value both to people and to the environment.

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Comments

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Crampon@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’m so fucking tired.

It’s estimated the fishing industry is losing around 400 metric tonnes of fishing gear into Norwegian waters every year.

Now we are punished for this by attaching the stupid caps to the bottles. Why are we not able to fix problems in this society hellbent for self destruction?

Why are every problem pushed down on the working class just wanting to enjoy a soda in this capitalistic hellscape.

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- nis@feddit.dk ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Attaching the caps to the bottles fixes a problem.
  
  The lost fishing gear is another problem.
  
  Fixing one will not fix the other. Fixing one helps. Fixing both helps more.
  
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  - Crampon@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    So. In Norway we have this great system for returning used bottles for cash. We get 0.2$ for a 0.5 liter bottle. People are returning the bottle with the cap on. Seeing bottle caps laying around isn’t a thing.
    
    Instead of attaching the cap to the bottle. Make a return system for the bottles. People are not systematically seperating the bottle and the cap as the cap keeps the sugary residue left inside the bottle in place instead of in the bag you carry them with to the store for returning them for that sweet cash.
    
    Attaching the cap is a solution looking for a problem.
    
    Having travelled a lot around in Europe I have never seen bottle caps laying the street alone. People throw them together or not at all.
    
    This is bureaucracy time spent on caps instead of actual problems. So they could focus on actual issues instead of this shit. It’s a testament to how they blame every issue on random people instead of the industries inventing new ways to fuck up any ecosystem.
    
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  - The_wild_card@lemmy.today ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Exactly i feel like people are becoming too weiny and easily irritated maybe because of the decline of quality in life due to capitalism ?
    
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- noobnarski@feddit.de ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Its the same with the paper straws while disposable electronic cigarettes are still allowed, which not only contain plastics, but also electronics and a rechargeable lithium cell.
  
  All the while a reusable vape works just as well, while paper straws just suck and they even contain plastic as well.
  
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  - settoloki@lemmy.one ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    I mean you can also get reusable metal straws the same as a reusable vape.
    
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- ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I haven’t experienced these bottles since I’m in the US, but by that picture; are they not easy to just rip off so it’s normal again?
  
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  - Crampon@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Fairly easy to rip off. But they sometimes leave some sharp pieces of plastic poking your lips. Also it’s annoying.
    
    Would probably be better if the tether was longer.
    
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hdnsmbt@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I’m convinced those do very little for the environment. There was some really smart executive at the plastic bottle company who made this up so they can charge more from beverage companies.

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- Malidak@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Even better. All the bottling and filling machine manufacturers could sell expensive upgrade packages for the beverage companies to even be able to work with the new caps. In our case we even had to completely retire two older machines because there are incompatible and buy new ones. Great for the environment for sure.
  
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- olutukko@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  They are making a ton of similar laws already. So the bottle caps alone might not do that much but those all laws combined are doing a lot
  
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Enk1@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Easy solution: only buy drinks in aluminum cans or glass bottles. World is already drowning in microplastic pollution.

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- olafurp@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Microplastic is mostly tires and fishing nets so tax those first I think.
  
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FluffyPotato@lemm.ee ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
It does shit for the environment, no one throws caps away separately while recycling the bottle. Most coloured plastics aren’t recycled anyways. Like 80% of all microplastic is from car tires.

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- Kusimulkku@lemm.ee ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  It was a very common plastic to be found on beaches. So they wanted to tether it to prevent garbage shit in the ocean.
  
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  - DillyDaily@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    But isn’t the tether still too thin and fragile to remain connected forever?
    
    If you drop a tethered cap on the beach, a few weeks in the sun, getting polished by sand, and that cap is seperating from the ring, and how does that fix the problem?
    
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this_is_router@feddit.de ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
wtf, my muscle memory is impacted?! fuck the environment! /s

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seathru@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I have never seen one of these. Can you not just like, rip it off?

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- ArbitraryMary@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  When they first introduced these, my brother thought it was a defect and ripped it off. It leaves a pretty sharp bit of plastic behind and he cut his hand when he screwed the lid back on. I get the idea behind them (it’s so you have to recycle the cap along with the bottle) but there’s got to be a better way than this. It makes it a pain to pour a drink or drink directly from the bottle.
  
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  - settoloki@lemmy.one ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    Pour it from the opposite side to where the cap is attached. That way the awkwardness of pouring the liquid over the attached cap is a none issue. I can only assume that’s what you’ve been trying to do.
    
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- LostXOR@fedia.io ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  You can, but it takes a considerable amount of force.
  
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  - seathru@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
    My stubbornness knows no bounds.
    
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Colour_me_triggered@lemm.ee ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
You can still remove them if you apply enough force.

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- MacStache@sopuli.xyz ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  Oh, ok. Then there’s no problem, I guess?
  
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Bruncvik@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I saw it for the first time last summer. Did a little reading, and according to the news articles, it was a EU directive, but it had been heavily lobbied for by Coca Cola. If I remember right, all EU countries should have implemented the necessary legislature by June this year.

I personally just tear the caps off. Can’t get used to them.

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Muscar@discuss.online ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
How are people having problems with these? They’re better in every way, you gotta be dumb as a brick to have any issues with using them.

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HikingVet@lemmy.ca ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
It’s shit like this that makes me realise carrying a knife hasn’t lost its utility.

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DontTreadOnBigfoot@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Op, where are you at? I’ve never seen these OR the aluminum push tabs you mentioned

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- calmluck9349@infosec.pub ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
  I know UK and Norway are like this.
  
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mryessir@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Detach one side of the cap by twisting. This allows turning the cap down to the bottle neck. You can then hold the cap out of the way and the bottle with one hand.

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calmluck9349@infosec.pub ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
I saw these for the first time in Europe last year. I thought the cap was defective the first two time. Then I realized its meant to stay. I do not like it. Glad its not a thing in USA.

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Cringe2793@lemmy.world ⁨9⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago
Wait this is new? It’s been around since I was born (which is not as recently as y’all might think). Maybe it’s just the country I live in.

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