Tried to defeat Xennial programming

[-]

Chronic_Overthink3r@reddit

My wife got me doing that. Even when I go to my mom’s I fish them out of the trash.

[-]

MochiFluffs@reddit

The programming is too deep. The sense of horror and pending doom when I had after seeing you dispose of it uncut triggered my brain into automatically screaming, "The turtles! Think of the turtles!"

[-]

cupcake_burglary@reddit

I guess if it helps ducks that's fine, but I'm doing it specifically for the turtles

[-]

IkariYun@reddit

"Stop fucking with the bees before I break your fucking knees." - The Lorax, Probably

[-]

TrashCarrot@reddit

I remember the lorax

He spoke for the trees

And if you don't cut your can rings

He'll break your damn knees

[-]

IkariYun@reddit

"Ain't no bees, ain't no trees. Break their fucking knees." -The Lorax, rough translation

[-]

TrashCarrot@reddit

I remember the lorax

He spoke for the trees

And if you don't cut your can rings

He'll break your damn knees

[-]

roroboy@reddit

Believe it or not I once found a stray cat with one of these loops tight around its neck. Two minutes and two dozen scratches later, it was free… please cut your plastic rings!

[-]

We never questioned how they were getting into the ocean either. Just dutifully cut and trash. Still do it myself. I mean, it could blow out of the garbage truck and find its way around a sea turtle’s neck.

[-]

Alarmed_Drop7162@reddit

For the turtles ! For the dolphins!

[-]

Fahlulah@reddit

I am the person who will still embarrass herself by cutting them when they belong to anyone I see throwing them away whole. I .... Just can't. Just can't walk away from the seagulls choking, turtles growing with them wrapped around them, dolphins starving with their mouths clamped shut, and land mammals strangling themselves.

Just can't.

[-]

andiinAms@reddit

Same, my friend. Same.

[-]

Apprehensive_Hat8986@reddit

Don't feel embarrassed. It takes courage to act when we're afraid or embarrassed. A lot of us here are proud of you and appreciate what you do.

[-]

hamburgler26@reddit

Is there a legit reason to NOT do this to these things?

[-]

zackks@reddit

Is there a legit reason to do it or is it just an urban legend like actual recycling?

[-]

thetwelveofsix@reddit

I assume you mean recycling plastics, as recycling cardboard, glass, and aluminum is very real.

[-]

lurkylurkeroo@reddit

Ah The Legend of Recycling.

They've all got us trained like good little monkeys to sort our garbage, but why is it on the end consumer to do the work? Just... don't create packaging like this.

And the fact that it's all useless. No matter what the individual does, it doesn't compare with other sources of waste producers - hospitals, supermarkets, military, other countries.

And at the end of all that, periodically you get a news story that the companies who handle Recycling are just a front for organised crime and the waste is either dumped in landfill or worse, the environment anyway.

I still do my bit, because I still have hope that my Recycling might be getting processed correctly, but it makes my heart ache thinking that I might as well be pissing into the wind.

[-]

hamburgler26@reddit

This is what I'm wondering.

[-]

degeneratesumbitch@reddit

My wife still cuts them up, and I do it to keep the peace. For us in the rural Midwest, there is no need to. All the garbage gets taken to a landfill where there is no water close by. It gets buried by layers and layers of trash to never be seen again.

[-]

Bad-Moon-Rising@reddit

Related - why are we still using them when there is a plant based one that does the same thing and will decompose? (I know it's because they're cheaper and/or easier to use, but my point still stands.)

[-]

hamburgler26@reddit

I guess I very rarely encounter them which is one reason I asked. Most beers I buy in 6 pack form come in a cardboard box or something now. I can't remember the last time I picked up a 6 pack of cans of Coke or anything that used to use these.

But whenever I do come across them I definitely cut them up. I've even ripped them apart if I didn't have scissors. I had a pet turtle growing up so maybe that picture of a turtle all fucked up from these just never let go so I'll never not shred these pieces of shit.

[-]

ferminriii@reddit

8-pack Gatorade and Powerade come in these. They are heavier and use the rings for packing instead of cardboard.

[-]

Embarrassed_Ad_3432@reddit

lol. So dumb but the sigh of relief I felt when I found out all the stories about those things were bull shit. I use to almost feel panicky if I could get those things cut up right away.

[-]

wosmo@reddit

I was gonna say - I don't remember the last time I saw these. Usually it's cardboard now.

[-]

verbdeterminernoun@reddit

(Phew)

[-]

CertifiedBA@reddit

Tear the sides off.....what aren't people understanding about these?

[-]

Meglade@reddit

Nope. Cutting it isn't optional. Even the odd little loops. Must be done. At this point im not sure anything I do helps, but im hoping this doesn't hurt...

[-]

Sad_Egg_5176@reddit

Especially the little loops. A baby turtle might stick its head in there

[-]

Apprehensive_Hat8986@reddit

Or a duck! 😬😰 A baby anything really.

[-]

Rude_Negotiation_160@reddit

Thank you, plus splitting chip and cereal bags and crushing the openings of soups and food cans.

[-]

LMurch13@reddit

It takes a second, even if there's only a 1% chance a turtle gets wrapped up in it...

[-]

ironocy@reddit

Not on my watch.

[-]

plainpaperplane@reddit

I have to cut it up and then I think about how it’s now going to turn into microplastics that get eaten by birds and other animals and they die because it fills their stomachs.

[-]

shef175@reddit

I have saved, and continue to save, all of the marine wildlife in the Chesapeake Bay region by doing this.

[-]

Nightshade_Ranch@reddit

The only way to defeat the programming is to take it to the park and slip it onto no fewer than three ducks.

[-]

nighmeansnear@reddit

Ducks Unlimited is going to kick this guy’s door down any second now

[-]

Orbital_Vagabond@reddit

My systolic just jumped 40 mmHg

[-]

Scrapla1@reddit

We don't get those much but I still HAVE to cut them.

[-]

Kinc4id@reddit

As a European it’s wild to me you still even have these and never got them banned.

[-]

Scrapla1@reddit

Yea they should be banned for sure. We had a fishing rig called "Pilchard Rings" and those were banned years ago due to their cruelty and danger to marine life if left in the water.

[-]

gareththegeek@reddit

Yeah, these are all cardboard now

[-]

Ordinary_Aioli_7602@reddit

Come to think of it, it’s been s hot minute since I bought a 6-pack- unless I just don’t remember lol

[-]

flamingknifepenis@reddit

All the six packs sold near me are those sort of solid plastic ones that clip over the top of the can. At least on beer. I don’t remember the last time I saw one like this, but I don’t really drink soda so maybe they’re still used on those.

[-]

Scrapla1@reddit

We sometimes get soda so that's really the only time and if I see it, I have to cut it.

[-]

AlwaysSleepingBeauty@reddit

When I was a kid I thought it was ok to toss those in the ocean if you cut the rings first.😅

[-]

zoominzacks@reddit (OP)

Mission failed successfully. lol

[-]

Maxaloo@reddit

Any critter small enough can get stuck. It's not just turtles or ducks. We are making a difference when we cut the rings. It just doesn't seem like it with how crappy everything is. Keep fighting the good fight, champions

[-]

ironocy@reddit

The loops must be cut. The fish and turtles will get stuck otherwise.

[-]

mc_louds@reddit

Think of the turtles.

[-]

Norwester77@reddit

Good on ya!

[-]

lostBoyzLeader@reddit

Seems nowadays most sodas come in cardboard boxes. Where, when we were kids, they came in these plastic doohickies pictures. So I really only see them when we buy gatorade and don’t do this nearly as much as I used to as a kid/teenager.

[-]

Munk45@reddit

gif

save me

[-]

No-Regular-4281@reddit

Just cut it! How many times have we been told what could happen to the animals if we don’t

[-]

ShibaInuDoggo@reddit

[-]

neckbeardsghost@reddit

The turtles and dolphins thank you for your service 😂

[-]

anthrax_ripple@reddit

They fn got us goot with that one, I cut the little holes too

[-]

JPhrog@reddit

One of my chores before I was allowed to go outside and play I had to separate recyclables from the trash and put them in 1 of the 3 different recycling bins. I hated having to dig through the trash and separate the recyclables, I pleaded with my family to just recycle everything first instead of putting everything in the trash.

[-]

WinterYak1933@reddit

Owen WIlson narrates: "WOW"

[-]

WinterYak1933@reddit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9iDP22qbeY

[-]

Turbulent_Ad9508@reddit

Anyone else here from the midwest told it was to save the birds?

[-]

Quiet_Molasses_3362@reddit

As an experiment into survival of the fittest. I tie fishing line between each loop

There can be only one

[-]

tmanarl@reddit

Cut that shit up

[-]

IvanNemoy@reddit

For the turtles!

[-]

Mountain-Practice-43@reddit

Phew, I was going to call someone!

[-]

Sit_back_and_panic@reddit

My brain always place a scene of a small baby seal or a turtle or some shit getting caught in my specific plastic ring thing so yeah, they always get cut.

[-]

PersonalityAlive6475@reddit

I turned it into an excuse to test knife edges.

I’ve had cutting one up become a 2-hour knife sharpening session.

[-]

AutomaticEducation52@reddit

sometimes I think this is the only thing I learned in fifth grade

[-]

Competitive_Peak_537@reddit

Yeah my kindergarten teacher was obsessed with this and lights out for turtles, I slow for manatees

[-]

discountErasmus@reddit

Throwing away a perfectly good dolphin trap smdh.

[-]

EveryoneChill77777@reddit

Glad to hear you cut it. The rage i felt against you for killing dolphins was real. I don't care if you live in Nebraska, somehow every uncut one of these ends up in dolphin nurseries and that's a scientific fact

[-]

Hilsam_Adent@reddit

Not true! At least forty percent of them end up deposited in turtle nests.

[-]

IkariYun@reddit

buys them in boxes to remove the responsibility from himself

[-]

ferminriii@reddit

You still have to cut them.

Those brown ones aren't biodegradable.

I don't know why I started thinking that, but I tossed it out one day uncut and my wife nearly called the divorce attorney. I told her: The brown ones break down in water. She asked me: What makes you think that?

r/confidentlyincorrect was calling. I googled it thinking I was about to be right.

Water biodegradable rings is not a mainstream packaging product. It's certainly is not how the 8 pack of Powerade comes.

Anyway, I was taught to save the sea life when I was a kid and the rule still stands.

You gotta cut them.

[-]

Ill_Athlete_7979@reddit

I was cutting up one of these rings not too long ago and my brother-in-law was standing there looking at me and said “Bro, you’re just cutting these up into little bite sized pieces for the fish”. New fear unlocked.

[-]

RadHawtLuv77@reddit

gif

[-]

badmongo666@reddit

Appropriately xennial response

gif

[-]

ferminriii@reddit

https://i.imgur.com/hawIP6K.jpeg

[-]

ng32409@reddit

It's as automatic as breathing for us. Don't try to fight it!

[-]

TexasIsCool@reddit

THINK OF THE TURTLES

[-]

Crans10@reddit

You left out the part where you cut them up.

[-]

TexasNatty05@reddit

Gotta save the sea turtles!

[-]

chancesarent@reddit

Between the 6 packs, the straws, the artificial lights and the fishing nets, I'm beginning to think the little fuckers want to die.

[-]

Organic_Popcorn@reddit

Those lovely goddamn sea turtles! I have to buy expensive paper straws because one had the entire freaking plastic straw in his nose! My sensitive teeth need straws to drink cold beverages 😭

[-]

MermaidSkipper@reddit

Just buy reusable stainless steel ones that you can wash and recycle.

[-]

Bluevanonthestreet@reddit

We rarely get them but I was sure to show my kids how to cut them up. Soda comes in 12 packs in the box now.

[-]

EastwoodRavine85@reddit

Downvote mother fucker

[-]

Konnorwolf@reddit

Every part of it must be cut!

It feels wrong if it's not cut.

[-]

Eephusblue@reddit

Do these dissolve now? I always wondered if they ever addressed it. I still cut it no matter what

[-]

deowolf@reddit

gif

[-]

MermaidSkipper@reddit

These shouldn’t be legal anymore. Most other countries have phased this Bronze Age crap out. I would rather just buy the 12 pack in a box or do a Costco run for a bulk buy to last me, than get anything with these plastic nooses attached to them. Sorely disappointed US Law makers haven’t made the decision to ban these already when it’s cheaper and more environmentally friendly to make a cardboard or paper holder.

[-]