The infamous Styrofoam restaurant takeout container: a friend to your leftover food and enemy to landfills or your already-cluttered cabinet/refrigerator — especially if the generosity of your favorite grub stop gives you more containers than you know what to do with.
Thankfully, TikToker Balle (@ballehurns) has shared an ingeniously sweet solution so those extra takeout containers don't go to waste or get thrown into the abyss of a messy pantry: dessert fondue.
The scoop
Typically, Styrofoam-style takeout containers are seen as nothing more than a vehicle for leftover food or a pesky and unaesthetic obstruction in your kitchen. And while it's best to avoid plastic foam products in the first place, Balle is taking the "un" out of "unaesthetic" and turning these humble containers into a vehicle for a fun and aesthetic dessert with endless possibilities.
@ballehurns don't throw away ur takeout containter 💔
♬ Dream Puppy - The Sweet Enoughs
In the video, Balle uses fruit, vegan chocolate sauce, and granola to fill each compartment of the container. She mentions that the chocolate sauce could be substituted for yogurt or sour cream, and this extends to fruit and granola substitutions, too. Who doesn't love fondue, especially when you throw "dessert" in front of it?
How it's working
Single-use Styrofoam, also known as expanded polystyrene, traces its roots to a marvel invention of extruded polystyrene foam by the Dow Chemical Company in the 1940s, and derivative forms have been a staple in food and beverage packaging and consumption for decades. However, consumers are realizing the detrimental effects of the convenient containers on our bodies and the environment.
Regarding human health, Styrofoam is made from polystyrene and thus contains styrene, which is a carcinogen, according to Reader's Digest. The original product is trademarked as Styrofoam, but nowadays, there are many other companies making similar polystyrene products, and the ones you find in the food and drink industry are all not actually Styrofoam even though we still use that term. In all cases, dozens of hazardous chemicals are released during the manufacturing process.
Styrofoam and other forms of plastic foam aren't very forgiving on Mother Earth, either. Reader's Digest further details that it can take 500 years for plastic foam to biodegrade, harming wildlife in the process. It also costs $3,000 to recycle one ton of Styrofoam-style products (compared to the $100 it takes to recycle one ton of paper). Aside from reusing the containers when you can, knowing how to properly recycle them goes a long way in mitigating the damage they cause.
Plastic foam is increasingly being banned in states and cities, such as Washington and Los Angeles. According to Oceana, at least 11 states have passed laws to "phase out" Styrofoam-esque packaging in the near future.
Until all plastic foam is successfully phased out, it's important to find mindful ways to reuse the containers. Upcycling, like what Balle does with her dessert fondue creation, is a smart and sustainable solution.
What people are saying
Viewers were very impressed with Balle's novel idea for turning a mundane container into a fun eating experience.
"It's like a fun bento box," one user observed, and another stated it "Looks amazing."
"Love this reminder! Reusing takeout containers is a small step that makes a big difference," another pointed out.
The caption from Balle said, "Don't throw away ur takeout container," and the video is a reminder there are innovative ways to help the planet without sacrificing fun and good eats. A simple hack like this can reduce waste and protect both land and oceans from pollution.
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