Jul 2019: Food Wrappin'
- Kaili Brande
- Jul 15, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 8, 2022
Hi All! Welcome back to the blog. Now that we are in the midst of summer, I hope you all are enjoying warm temperatures and fun trips to the beach, parks, or nature. When you take these fun trips, do you bring any picnic supplies? Do these supplies inevitably contain “Ziploc” plastic baggies full of fruit and trail mix, cling-wrapped veggies, or aluminum foil-wrapped cheese? Do you notice the load of plastic and/or metal that you have to throw away at the end of the picnic?
In honor of #PlasticFreeJuly, we are going to discuss plastic baggies, cling wrap, aluminum foil, and other single-use food wraps. Unfortunately, most of these materials are not recycled by local municipalities (unless a grocery store offers some program). Aluminum foil is more often accepted, but only if formed into a large ball the size of your fist. See my Recycling post to learn more. However, even if some of these materials are accepted, only a small proportion of plastic gets recycled these days in the U.S. A lot of what usually would be recycled is now being sent to landfills, after China banned importing our “foreign garbage” last year. Therefore, recycling is really not the best answer, but REUSING things is! Furthermore, storing food in plastic (specifically cling wrap) is associated with potential health risks that may be better avoided, as highlighted by National Geographic in their latest issue.
Pinterest.com glad.com wefuturecycle.com
An easy and effective way to make your picnic (or daily packed lunch) MUCH more sustainable (and healthier) is to use BEESWAX WRAPS! These wraps are amazing for storing food on-the-go and in the fridge. In my experience, there is rarely anything a beeswax wrap can’t store that a Ziploc bag, cling wrap, or aluminum foil can. My favorite example of these is Etee wraps.
These wraps are made of organic cotton covered in beeswax and essential oils that are naturally antimicrobial, making it a safe and healthy choice for storing your foods. The bright colors are also achieved using non-toxic dyes. They are super durable and bend easily so you can wrap them around the edges of a watermelon rind or the rim of a glass bowl, keeping it airtight. They can be used for any type of food other than meats (just to be safe for sanitary reasons). They just can’t be used with hot or recently heated foods (the beeswax will naturally melt into a soup. Oops! Literally so natural haha).
I have used my Etee wraps to cover a multitude of items like half-cut tomatoes, avocado halves, hard cheese, a chilled bowl of soup in the fridge, and a big bowl of guacamole. It always keeps the food fresh because of its non-porous surface and thick, airtight qualities.
After using the wrap, you simply wash the wrap with cold water, a bit of dish soap, and the soft side of a sponge. Any food bits come off pretty easily, and then you hang it to dry (I put mine over the side of my dish drying rack).
Another great option from Etee brand are the beeswax bags! Easier for storing multiple items together, but just a bit more surface area to clean afterward. I like both, but ultimately love the regular wraps the most.
Finally, there are several other brands of beeswax wraps available out there. If the Etee colors aren’t your favorite, there are a multitude of others, like the ones shown below. Additionally, if you want to really customize, you can hand-make your own following instructions here.
beeswrap.com amazon.com littlegreen.me
Going back to our picnic story…although some have posed the idea of washing and reusing their Ziploc bags, there is always the potential risk of plastic leaching from being worn down over time. Given these potential drawbacks, why not replace the flimsy cheap plastic altogether, and choose beeswax wraps. That way, when you rinse the wraps after each use, there is no risk of chemical leaching. Besides, plastic baggies and wrap look pretty cheap and clutter-y when drying out and stacked afterward. I’d rather reuse a bright-hued beeswax wrap that folds up into a little square! I keep mine in my kitchen drawer below. :)
Many sustainable-minded folks like us have already determined to rid themselves of plastic shopping bags. Why wouldn’t we also want to remove the plastic baggies in our kitchens? They’re basically plastic “cousins”. Let’s do it together, and make our fridges more colorful in the process. ;) Email me at kailipbrande@gmail.com or comment below if you would like to try an Etee wrap out! I recently ordered a couple extra and would love to share them with you as a freebie!
I was one of the lucky recipients of Kaili's Etee wraps and they have completely changed the way I wrap food. I use these wraps every day for packing my lunch. They are durable, keep my food fresh and are lightweight, which makes them convenient to pack in my backpack. I have gone from using plastic bags and tin foil to only using these for both packing food and covering my dishes. I use them so much, that I recently ordered more. In my order, I decided to include my first set of Etee bags, which I am planning to use for snack foods. It is incredible that these products not only eliminate waste, but also reduce exposure to toxic…