Recently, I've been trying to reduce my single-use plastic consumption. It will come as a shock to no one that single-use plastics are detrimental to the environment, and it is one of the easiest habits we are able to change.
This has been a slow process for me, but it stems back from childhood. My parents always instilled in my sister and I that disposable water bottles were bad for the environment, more expensive and most likely worse for our health. I mean... there can't be anything but harmful chemicals seeping into your water (yikes). Thus, two tiny enviro-warriors were created. From garbage pick-up events to simply enjoying nature and the beauty that comes along with it, my sister and I were taught from a young age that our Earth is something to cherish.
It hasn't been a perfect journey and I am no where close to done, I'll be the first to admit I have fell to the convenience and availability of single-use plastic. A straw in my iced-coffee, a disposable fork with my favourite burrito bowl, and tons and tons of plastic wrap... how do you avoid it?!
So I decided to make beeswax food wraps. If you haven't heard of it yet, it's basically a replacement for plastic wrap -- it can be used to cover leftovers, wrap fruits and veggies, and even replace sandwich baggies.
There are numerous tutorials and videos out there explaining how to make your own beeswax wraps. I decided to create mine with 100% cotton fabric and all natural, raw beeswax from right here in Southwestern Ontario. I've seen other tutorials that also use pine resin and jojoba oil, but I decided to start simple.
What I Used
100% cotton fabric (scraps from other projects and old t-shirts)
All natural, raw beeswax
What I Did
As I mentioned, there are a number of tutorials that explain how to make your own beeswax wraps. So I'll keep my description simple . . .
I bought my beeswax from a local bee farm in solid form, so I had to grate the wax. I opted to use my cheese grater and it worked grate (pun intended). It washed easily with warm water and soap.
I washed my fabric with a scentless laundry soap without fabric softener. I used scraps I had laying around from other projects, and an old t-shirt that was stained. Using pinking shears, I cut out assorted sizes of rectangles from the fabric.
I opted for the iron method. In order to protect my ironing board, I laid out a large sheet of parchment paper, I then layered the fabric, the wax shavings and another layer of parchment paper.
Ironing out the beeswax was an easy process. However, I did find the t-shirt material I used absorbed the wax quicker making it harder to evenly spread the wax.
I let the wraps dry on a cooling rack, which they did so pretty quickly.
This was a simple do-it-yourself that I thoroughly enjoyed creating. I will certainly make more to gift to my family and friends. DIY beeswax wraps are so easily personalized with different prints of fabrics and sizes of cuts.
The benefits of these beeswax wraps are endless, they really are the bees knees. Not only are these wraps reusable, but the beeswax is antibacterial and all of the materials are compostable. To clean, you wipe them with cold water and soap, if necessary. Since it's made with wax, no microwave, dryer or high heat.
Let me know if you've tried to make DIY beeswax wraps, and if you have any tips, tricks or frustrations.
Keep creating.
xo
Lindsay
Comments