It’s a new year and you know what that means, right? Resolutions! Yep, we know that you’re all thinking about them, even if you don’t want to admit it. One of our top resolutions for 2018 is to really commit to going as plastic-free as possible and we think that everyone should jump on board this wagon too! If you haven’t already tried these, beeswax wraps are a fantastic, easy, sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to cling wrap. They fill your fridge with fun and happy prints while reducing your impact on our beautiful, struggling oceans. Grab some wraps and make it some of your beeswax to reduce single-use plastic this year!

The Benefits of Beeswax Wraps

1. Made From Safe & Natural Materials

Beeswax wraps are a safe and natural alternative to plastic packaging. They’re made from cotton and coated in all natural beeswax that is completely food safe.

2. Can be Reused Over and Over Again

Beeswax wraps will generally last for around 1 year if taken care of properly. It’s always a great idea to give them a little refresh every 1-2 months by popping them on a baking tray in the sun for a few hours. This will re-melt the existing beeswax on your wraps and maintain their stickiness over time.

3. Can be Composted

When your beeswax wraps reach the end of their life, never fear, you don’t have to just toss them in the bin. You can cut a beeswax wrap up into strips to compost it, or even use it as a fire-starter! How eco-friendly is that?

The Disadvantages of Beeswax Wraps

Of course, we’d love to tell you that this eco-friendly alternative to plastic is completely flawless and doesn’t have any cons. But it’s important that we try to outline the disadvantages of beeswax wraps too. (To be completely honest though, we think these are pretty minor compared to all the advantages!)

1. The Price Tag

It’s an investment stocking up on a bunch of these, especially compared to cling wrap and snap lock bags. Beeswax wraps are definitely not the cheaper alternative but when you think about how many times you can reuse these over several months, even more than a year, the cost per use often works out cheaper than their plastic counterparts.

2. The Maintenance

Plastic cling wrap is super low maintenance and can be thrown out after each use. Beeswax wraps, however, require a little bit more care. You’ll need to wipe down your wraps with warm soapy water to clean them. Even lay them out in the sun on a baking tray to maintain the stickiness of the beeswax over time. We often just pop things in the bin after one use these days that this whole maintenance process does take a tiny bit of getting used to.

3. What’s inside?

A downside is that you can’t see what’s inside each beeswax wrap like cling wrap or snap lock bags. Unless you have an incredible photographic memory, you’ll have to open up each wrap to check what’s inside. This doesn’t cause too many problems if you usually only have a few items packed up in the fridge. But the more leftovers you have, the more difficult it might be to remember what food you’re actually storing.

4. Not Suitable for all Types of Food

Beeswax wraps aren’t ideal for wrapping things like raw meat, fish or wet food items like watermelon. However you can always pop these things in a bowl and cover with a beeswax wrap, which grips nicely and keeps your food sealed tightly.

What Size Wrap Should I Choose?

At Upcycle Studio we stock Apiwraps, which are lovingly handmade in Australia. These come in a great range of different sizes to suit all sorts of food storage needs.

Small Apiwrap

Perfect for little bits and bobs like lemons, limes and small blocks of cheese.

Buy the Apiwraps Cheese Lovers Pack.

Medium Apiwrap

The medium wraps are great for pieces of fruit like oranges, tomatoes and avocados. You can also use this size to store small blocks of cheese or pop over a small bowl to keep last night’s leftovers fresh in the fridge.

Buy the Apiwraps Kitchen Basics Pack.

Large Apiwrap

A large Apiwrap is ideal for wrapping up sandwiches for school lunches or placing over a salad or pasta bowl.

Buy the Apiwraps Lunch Call Pack.

Extra Large Apiwrap

Keep all your leafy greens like celery, herbs and kale fresh for longer in an extra large sized Apiwrap. This is also a great option for popping over fruit and cheese platters too.

Buy an extra large Apiwraps Celery Wrap.

Get your new plastic-free year off to cracking start with our lovely range of reusable beeswax Apiwraps at Upcycle Studio.