Sept/Oct 2019 55
“It doesn’t seem to have soaked all the way
through in some spots,” Mom said, holding the first
wrap in her hands, just by the tips of two corners.
We decided it’d be best to add more of the
mixture to this first one. Afterward, I stuck it back in
the oven for five more minutes, and after removing
it, we smoothed the mixture out again. This time,
we’d done it.Helping the Planet One Wrap at a Time
As we continued making our food wraps, I
thought back to when I first began using beeswax
wraps I’d purchased from Bee’s Wrap. Much of my
waste had been plastic storage bags I used to tote
food to work or on weekend hiking trips, as well as
plastic wrap used to cover leftovers. I realized this
was simply unnecessary. Once I began using beeswax
wraps, though, I used far less plastic.
Although we’d still purchased the ingredients
to make our wraps, which required some use of
resources, we were doing our part to help reduce the
amount of plastic in the world. Every year, more than300 million tons of plastic are produced, and half
of it is single-use, according to Plastic Oceans, an
environmental nonprofit.
Not only are reusable beeswax wraps better
for the environment, they’re also better for our
health, because using organic wraps reduces our
food’s contact with plastic that’s laden with potent
chemicals. As a bonus, most wraps can be used for
about a year before it’s time to replace them, saving
us money. Instead of throwing them away, compost
them or use them as effective fire starters.
In about three hours, we’d made 15 wraps of
varying sizes. Still, we had enough ingredients to
make at least 15 more. Fortunately, the whole process
wasn’t as messy as we’d expected, and we produced
enough sustainable food storage wraps to last us a
year, reducing our need for plastic in the kitchen.Jonathan Olivier is an author and journalist from south
Louisiana who writes about the outdoors and environment.
For two years, he traveled across North American to work on
farms before opening one of his own, Le Potager d’Acadiana.Cleanse. Detox. Purify. Rehydrate.
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