Beeswax Food Wrap

Beeswax food wrap is a sheet of cotton fabric coated in a mixture of beeswax, tree resin, and jojoba oil. You use the warmth of your hands to mold it around a bowl, a piece of cheese, or half an avocado where it sticks to itself and holds its shape. The wrap replaces plastic cling film and lasts about a year before the wax wears thin. When it's done you can compost it or use it as a fire starter. The texture is slightly tacky and smells faintly of honey, and the patterns on the fabric range from plain beeswax yellow to floral prints depending on the maker. I admire that the product does the same job as plastic wrap using materials that existed before the petrochemical industry. Slight inconvenience of warming it in your hands rather than pulling from a roll is a trade-off I accept. Wraps come in 3 sizes, small, medium, and large, and a set of 3 costs about $18 from most makers. The limitation is that you can't use them on raw meat or in a microwave. Washing requires cold water because hot water melts the wax, but those constraints are manageable once you adjust your habits.