I work hard to make my food storage is as waste-free as possible (though I am very far from perfect). I take reusable mesh bags to the farmers’ market and grocery store for produce. I often tote glass jars to the bulk section when I need to restock my dry goods. Our leftovers go in wide-mouth jars and Pyrex containers with snap-on plastic lids. The one thing I’ve really struggled with is finding a good way to keep things things that need close wrapping.
I wash and rewash plastic bags, but they don’t last forever. I sometimes succumb to the lure of plastic wrap, but I hate the idea of swaddling food in a single use cling. Happily, I’ve discovered a new-to-me product that has solved most of my food covering woes.
Called Bee’s Wrap, these food-safe wrappers are made from sheets of organic cotton fabric that are imbued with beeswax, jojoba oil and tree resin. You wrap them around food, bowls or plates and use the heat of your hands to mold the fabric into place. So far, I’ve used them on hunks of cheese, cucumbers, and to cover bowls with rising bread dough. I adore them.
I first learned about the Bee’s Wrap when I got an email from Sarah, the woman who makes them. I asked her to tell me a little about her product and how she started making them. Here’s what she said.
I love to make things and my husband and I love food! I grow and preserve almost all of the vegetables for our family of five, make our bread and my husband raises pigs, chickens and lambs for food. We have dappled in a lot of projects from making beer, cider, yogurt, milking goats, and lots of sewing.
As my children are growing out of babyhood I was finding a need and desire to enter the workforce, but wanted to be close to home and work for myself. Within an ongoing exchange of ideas, my cousins suggested that I make wax infused cloth to use in the kitchen. It was such a lovely idea and after some time I started experimenting and researching it.
The practicality, common sense, and environmental benefits was so amazing I felt I could turn it into a business that would help to support us, as well as provide a great product. I also just love working with beeswax and fabric.
I find that these wrappers are quite easy to care for. They clean off with a quick wipe of gentle dish soap and a rinse in lukewarm water (you want to avoid the hottest water your tap can produce, in order to prevent the wax from melting off the fabric).
I’ve found that these wraps can do nearly everything that plastic bags and Saran wrap can do. The only exceptions are covering dishes in the microwave and helping prevent dough from sticking while rolling out. Sarah does recommend that you avoid using them on meat, poultry and fish, to help prevent any cross-contamination or funky smells from developing.
They last a good long time, and when they eventually wear out, they can be composted. You can’t say that about the more conventional plastic bags and wraps!
Thanks to Sarah, I have a set of three (small, medium and large) Bee’s Wraps for giveaway today. Here’s how to enter.
- Leave a comment on this post and share your favorite trick for leftover storage.
- Comments will close at 11:59 pm on Friday, February 22, 2013. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog over the weekend.
- Giveaway open US residents only.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.
Disclosure: Bee’s Wrap gave me a set of two wraps for review and photography purposes and has provided a set of three wraps for this giveaway. They did not pay for inclusion on the blog and my opinions remain entirely my own.
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I use all sizes mason jars for storing in fridge, freezer and cabinet.
I would love to use less plastic wrap, still looking for a way to freeze muffins and bread loaves with out plastic or foil…
would love to try these!
I try my best to use leftovers as best possible. I store in plastic or glass containers to eliminate waste. What I don’t use or forget about, I compost.
What am awesome product!! I use mason jars for storage, and I reuse plastic bags over and over. I only use parchment paper and tinfoil, and reuse my tin foil over and over, and then recycle it. These would definitely help full the gap, when those solutions aren’t that great.
this is just what i have been searching for!! a way to reduce waste on both sides of the coin. what a terrific idea!
I have varying sizes of mason jars that I use for leftovers. Also use Pyrex glass containers.
Keep a calendar or wipeboard on the fridge and write the leftovers on the date you fixed them. That way you don’t forget what have, it inspires you to use it and keeps you minful of how long you have to use it up!
I use glass as much as possible but these look amazing!!!
I don’t know if this is a trick but instead of having tupperware we save all our yogurt and take out containers and use those to keep our leftovers.
I’ve been wanting something like these for a long time, though. Thanks for the chance!
Everything leftover goes into jars. My dry goods go in jars that have some sort of flaw or are too old to process, but my leftovers mostly get stashed in my pint and a half jars that I am in love with.
I store all my dry goods in mason jars. Love them!
I’ve never heard of these, they are such a great idea! I’m moving all our tupperware over to glass and I try to use plastic bags as little as possible. These I’m going to have to get.
These look amazing! We are not that creative and store leftovers in bpa-free plastic containers with locking lids or in glass jars. I’d love to mix it up with these!!!
I have been canning for a few years, but only this year did I really catch on to being able to freeze things in jars. This is the perfect way to keep leftover soup! I now almost always have a quart jar of something in the freezer.
plastic rubbermaid. although I remember growing up my mom had these things that looked like hair nets, that fit right over the bowls. you’d just watch them in warm soapy water and reuse.
I have never heard of these before,but they seem really awesome!
This seem amazing! I won’t use plastic wrap and, like you, I reuse plastic bags, but they don’t last forever. This seems like a really great solution. thanks for showing them!
What a great idea!! I especially like the idea of using to wrap our homemade bread, which is always an odd shape and does not fit well into any reusable container. I love the idea of wrapping cheese, and I think they would work well for other odd shaped items that I am stowing away for future use.
I would love to use something better for the environment than saran wrap.
I’m using mason jars for all types of storage and using pyrex for leftovers. Trying to eliminate plastic from our lives.
I wish I had something clever to share, but we typically use tupperware or jars. I find that especially when I use tupperware on cheese that it just doens’t last as long as when I use a plastic bag… I would love to give these a try!
I make sure to eat them up the next day if possible, otherwise they tend to be forgotten….
I’ve just been putting everything in mason jars in the pantry. I try to use lidded tupperware in the fridge rather than saran wrap, but it just doesn’t work as well!
At the moment, we have been replacing all of our plastic storage containers with glass ones. They are better than I could have imagined! Not only can I store things in them, but use them in the oven or microwave as well. Some even are OK to freeze. Definitely will have to buy some of these Bees Wraps! These look wonderful!
I use “Oliso” vacuum bags for small items, but they do not
cover bowls like this “bees wrap” does, nor are they earth friendly.
What a wonderful idea. I’ll have to look for these.
I reuse plastic containers and bags as long as possible, which turns out to be quite a while!
I’ve switched to pyrex containers for storage.
I like to put prepared food back into the original ingredient’s packaging – like homemade burritos in the bag that the torillas came in.
Here lately I’ve been using glass jars
and plastic that is bpa free. I hate Saran Wrap and love this replacement for it!
Looks like I’m not the only one that uses mason jars for my leftovers! Try to avoid plastic as much as possible.
This looks like a GREAT product. I’m all about glass jars, but sometimes you just need to wrap. Waxed paper works for most things. These wraps would be wonderful.
as a beekeeper.. this makes me so happy! those ladies work hard so we ALL benefit
so in addition to my worm bin, my compost heap, the mesh fruit and veg AND cloth shopping bags.. this will make my kitchen a happier earth friendly place
love Love LOVE
You know, my roommates have taught me that just placing things like a half of an onion upside down in a bowl is the best way of storing it . . . also reminds you not to let it go to waste!
We have recently gone from plastic to mason jars, pyrex, and reusable bags for sandwiches. These look awesome!
I like glass containers like mason jars and casseroles with fitted tops to store things because plastic sometimes takes on too many competing flavors. I’d love to use these Bees Wraps for cheese!
I love this idea!!! It goes into the category of, “Why didn’t I think of that?”!
I freeze many things in ice cube trays and then store them in large reusable glass containers or bags. I like that I can pull out just what I need and not defrost everything. This is my favorite trick with items like Tomato Paste, Fresh herbs in olive oil, and other small quantity items I use regularly. It is amazing not to fret about spoiling or half empty containers taking up premium fridge space.
Love the Blog!
This is great! I usually try to use whatever I’ve used while cooking it – if it’s brussels sprouts on foil in the oven, I’ll wrap them up in the foil when storing. Or I like glass bowls with lids…
these look amazing. i use a lot of glass containers. i always cringe when i have to resort to plastic wrap..
I store everything in mason jars! Once I tried to shove a block of cheese into one. It did not go well.
I like to wash and reuse parchment paper, but these look amazing.
I would love to try these. We use a lot of canning jars, and pyrex glass containers with lids, but as you noted, we don’t have a great replacement for plastic wrap for airtight storage.
My pyrex bowls with lids get a lot of use for toting lunch to work and storing left overs
This is a great idea. Unfortunatly I use too many freezer bags marked with a Sharpie with contents and the date.
We reuse plastic bread bags to hold all kinds of stuff, until they’re gross and we use them to hold compost in the freezer until we can do a dropoff. I love these wraps!
We never use plastic wrap and try not to use plastic bags. We store almost all of our leftovers in (mostly vintage) glass Pyrex containers and mason jars.
This is such an ingenious product!!! Sarah should be commended for her green alternative to plastic wrap! I’d love to use these in my fridge instead of frustrating Saran Wrap.
This stuff sounds amazing, great product! We store leftovers in glass containers.
Win or not, I am getting some of those. Brilliant!
This isn’t my best leftover trick but it is a leftover packaging trick I adore. Too many things come in netted bags, produce mostly. I try to avoid them but some days…
I keep each one, cut of labels and stuff them inside each other. Usually the smaller ones (my favorite ginger comes in a small yellow net bag) stuffed into the larger ones. Once it’s full, I knot it closed and voila, a dish washing scrubber! I haven’t bought a scrubber for my dishes in years. I can’t tell you how many folks see mine and go home and start their own. Such a compliment.
I use glass containers and mason jars to store as much as I can. There are just some things that are better when wrapped closely (like cheese and partial fruits and vegetables.
These Bees Wraps look amazing and I would love to try them.
What a great product!