If you pack lunches everyday or frequently find yourself with leftover dinner, it might feel like you’re always adding plastic wrap to your grocery list and throwing used sandwich bags in the trash. Though disposable food packaging is convenient, single-use plastic is incredibly detrimental to our planet— it gets into our forests and oceans and takes hundreds of years to break down, and even then it becomes increasingly toxic & dangerous to wildlife.
One eco-friendly alternative to single-use plastic that has become increasingly popular is Beeswax Wrap: The pliable, waxy cloth covers easily fold up around foods and effectively cover bowls of leftovers. Just rinse off any residue with cold water, and you can reuse the wraps time and time again, eliminating the need for plastic wrap or baggies! Though you can find beeswax wraps online and at many stores, they’re actually pretty easy to make yourself and we’re going to show you exactly how it’s done.
*We’ve also included links to where you can find some of these supplies online!
How to Make Your Own Beeswax Wraps: Recipe & Instructions from Zero Waste Cartel
WHAT YOU NEED:
(These amounts are enough for one wrap approx. 7.8 x 11.8 inch)
- Beeswax: 20g (can use carnauba wax for vegan wraps)
- Coconut oil or Jojoba oil: 2g
- Cotton material: a piece around 7.8 x 11.8 inch
- Scissors
- Cheese grater
- Silicone brush (or a tool to spread the wax)
DIRECTIONS:
- Preheat your oven to 320F
- Cut your fabric
- Grate your 20g beeswax.
- Measure out 2g of coconut oil.
Use a clean tray or baking paper - Sprinkle the wax and oil evenly over your fabric
- Place in the oven for 3 minutes
- After 3 minutes, open the oven and flip the fabric, using the brush to spread the oil around, making sure to cover the corners
- Place in the oven again for another minute & repeat until you are confident the wrap has been covered properly
- Once it’s ready, be mindful to brush off any excess wax before taking it out of the tray
- These wraps dry quickly, so all you need to do is pick up the corners and slowly wave it so that it starts to stiffen.
- Leave it to cool on a cooling rack or by hanging it up on a clothesline, and that’s it!
We hope you enjoy this little eco-friendly DIY project and that it inspires you to continue finding sustainable alternatives for things you use everyday. Every little bit counts!
Live Creative is a leading resource and community hub for sustainable design, innovation, business, and marketing. Our Lifestyle Team brings you inspiring sustainability and zero waste tips, ideas, and more. Our Creative Studio Team offers authentic marketing, branding, and business expertise to ecopreneurs, socialpreneurs, and purpose-driven brands.