Single-use plastic is the worst. There, we said it. But one person took to Reddit to show how a local pizza place is replacing single-use plastic with a more sustainable option.
One Reddit user took to the r/Anticonsumption subreddit to show off their pizza order in a popular post. In the middle of the delicious-looking pie was a single round bit of dough.
"Kind of a small change, but those tiny plastic chairs only have one use," the post read. "My local pizza place uses a ball of dough instead of those little plastic tables to prevent the pizza box lid from touching the pizza."
Single-use plastics, like the tiny pizza "tables" that come in your box, are plastics that — you guessed it — are used only once or have only one purpose before being tossed. Think plastic straws, bags, coffee stirrers, or most food packaging. In fact, up to 50% of the plastics that we use are single-use.
While a lot of plastic is recyclable, not a lot is being recycled. In America alone, only about 5% of plastics are being recycled, resulting in at least 34 million tons of plastic waste ending up in landfills.
That's why sustainable swaps, like bread dough instead of plastic, can make a big difference.
It turns out that the bread dough trick isn't new or unique to this Redditor's local pizza joint, with many commenters pointing out they, too, are familiar with this dough hack.
"Me and my sister would get in fist fights over the dough ball when we were kids in the '80s," one user commented. "My mom would steam it so we could eat it [because] it was always hard as a rock! I still order from the same pizza joint, and they still use a dough ball."
Other commenters also noted that the bread ball was usually a little tough. But still, they offered options, like breaking it up and feeding it to the birds or noted that it could at least break down if it was tossed.
Others mentioned how this is a great step in the direction of sustainability.
"Small changes add up," one user said. "Especially since they are so often easy wins and don't actually make anyone give up quality of life."
One small step for sustainability, one giant delicious dough ball in the middle of your pizza.
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