A Redditor was recently blown away by an unassuming addition to their pizza order.
"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," wrote the original poster, alongside a photo.
While this was a pleasant surprise for the original poster, this isn't the only pizzeria that uses dough balls in the middle of their pies. It's heartening to see the effort put into reducing plastic use, though what's happening behind the scenes isn't always visible.
Plastic waste is a big problem. It's often a safety hazard for wildlife, and over time, it sheds particles. These microplastics work their way into food streams, and once ingested, can contribute to digestive, renal, circulatory, endocrine, immune, neurological, and reproductive health risks.
Getting dinner from a place like this is a great way to support brands with plastic-free packaging. You could go even further for the environment by opting for a vegetarian pizza, as animal agriculture has steep costs in harmful carbon pollution and land use.
You can also ensure the pizza box goes into compost instead of cardboard recycling. They can also be used in gardening. Oil residues contaminate the recycling process and incur surprisingly high costs. Contamination costs the recycling industry at least $300 million annually, according to one study.
The Reddit community was duly impressed by the use of a bun to protect pizza in a box.
"I have literally worked in 30 pizzerias in 9 states over the last 35 years and have never thought of this once," said one commenter. "We have hundreds a fresh baked garlic knots in the back looking for a home."
"This is smart. I've worked at a pizza place, we just threw away tons of fresh dough and it was such a waste," replied another.
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