Think your Parmesan cheese lid is destined for the trash or recycling bin as soon as you sprinkle out the last bit of cheese? Think again.
TikToker Shannon Doherty (@athomewithshannon) showed a great way to find a second life for the lids with basically no effort.
The scoop
Doherty, who specializes in "mom hacks," shared the remarkably simple way to get extra usage out of Parmesan cheese lids.
@athomewithshannon How genius!!💡My entire #earthday series is full of the best SuperMom #reusable #hacks 🌎 #sustainability #kitchenhacks #momsoftiktok #momhacks ♬ Love You So - The King Khan & BBQ Show
Instead of discarding the three-holed Parmesan cheese lids, Doherty shows that the lids perfectly fit Mason jars. Simply screw off the Mason jar lid and sub in the cheese cover in its place. That makes for perfect "sippy cups" for kids and, well, anyone who likes drinking out of straws.
The three holes for straws could make hydrating a group activity, but that is probably not advised, considering all the sicknesses kids can carry.
How it's helping
This easy hack can both save money and help the planet.
On the money front, instead of buying a sippy cup from scratch, you can tap into two things you might already have to do the trick.
As far as the planet goes, the hack does an admirable job of extending the use value of a piece of plastic. Many areas don't support the recycling of items like these plastic lids. That will then lead the lid to a planet-heating landfill, where it could potentially leach problematic microplastics that often end up in our oceans.
Even if your area does an admirable job of recycling, it can be a resource-heavy and inefficient process, even with as much work is being done to improve it. Upcycling is the best way to do your part for the planet.
Another benefit of the hack is forestalling the resource-heavy production and shipping of more goods like sippy cups that are made of plastic.
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Giving me money back 💰 Other industrious creators like Doherty have shared ways to reinvent old toilet paper rolls, pill bottles, and tomato sauce jars for productive uses in and out of the house instead of tossing them into the bin. Containers and packages are some of the most fruitful items for repurposing.
What everyone's saying
TikTokers were appreciative of Doherty's hack and had some fun with the origin of the lids.
"Yay," one joked. "Parmesan water."
Another shared: "We use them for catching lightning bugs. This is such a great idea! Had no idea they fit mason jars."
"I love this!" a viewer exclaimed. "I'll have to do this soon!"
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