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.

    • RecluseRamble@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      143·
      3 days ago

      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.

      • half_built_pyramids@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        2 days ago

        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.

        • RecluseRamble@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          31·
          2 days ago

          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.

      • Geth@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
        92·
        3 days ago

        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.

        • RBG@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
          62·
          3 days ago

          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.

          • Frokke@lemmings.worldEnglish
            5·
            2 days ago

            This is done regardless of the source of the glass. IE fresh or reused glass gets the same cleaning treatment.

        • Aux@lemmy.worldEnglish
          37·
          3 days ago

          It’s done less and less because recycling plastic bottles is better.

        • RecluseRamble@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          33·
          3 days ago

          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.

    • Skull giver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nlEnglish
      74·
      3 days ago

      There’s a good reason why many carbonated drinks stopped being sold in glass bottles. When you go over a certain volume, they become bombs. There are videos online or 2L soda bottles falling over and sending shards of glass flying everywhere. I’d rather not have that back.

      Glass bottles are also great at starting fires when they’re left outside by trashy people. Looking at how often I still find plastic trash in the woods, I’m not sure if switching to glass would make that much of an improvement.

      Plus, you’d still have the same problem with the bottle cap.