We’ve written before at HuffPost UK about why bottles have those new attached lids now.
That’s all well and good ― but what about HOW to drink from them without one of the ridged cap sides scraping your chin?
As with so many of life’s problems, the answer for me lay in TikTok’s “For You” (no, but really for me) page. Site user @davebold1 recently shared a video explaining how to experience a stress-free sip ― and it’s reassuringly simple.
What do you do?
In the video, the creator lifted the lid onto the top of the bottle’s rim.
Because the band attaching the lid to the top of the bottle is only fully fused on one side, the cap had enough wiggle room to rise over the bottle without losing its place on the container.
Then, he simply pulled the lid over to the other side of the bottle, leaving it stuck firmly to the opposite side with its flat top, rather than its prickly ridged bottom, facing out.
That way, you still ensure the entire bottle is recycled ― but you don’t have to deal with any flapping lid while you’re drinking.
Coca-Cola ― the brand of pop he was drinking ― don’t seem to use this method in the examples on their site, but having tried it myself, it certainly has its uses.
People had *thoughts* in the comments
Unsurprisingly, people were pretty pleased to learn the trick.
“And here is me scraping my nose with every sip,” one commenter joked.
“This is why [the lids are] always hitting us in the face. We’re doing it wrong,” another TikTok user shared.
And yet another (relatable) comment reads, “This would have saved me so many times from getting poked in the eye.”
Sustainable Plastics wrote that while Coca-Cola was ahead of the curve in implementing attached lids, ”[According to EU law] plastic caps must remain attached after opening on all single-use plastic beverage containers of up to three litres from July 2024 onwards.
“Metal and glass containers are exempt from this obligation. The measure is expected to prevent 10% of plastic litter found on European beaches.”
So we should all get practising ASAP, IMO...