The Humble Beeswax Wrap Is a Zero Waste Superstar

These clever, all-natural wraps cut down on plastic use and make food last longer, too.

Abeego beeswax wraps are mentioned frequently on TreeHugger. Whether I'm writing about zero waste living, how to store food without plastic, or reducing food waste at home, Abeego always seems to come up. It is, after all, an ingenious invention that fits our website's mission to live more sustainably and with less waste, using natural products that cause less harm to the environment.

So, after meeting Abeego's founder and CEO Toni Desrosiers at the One of a Kind Show in Toronto earlier this winter, I thought it would be interesting to delve into a more detailed look at what Abeego is, how it's made, and why it's such a phenomenal product. Desrosiers spoke with me over email, explaining how it all started with her dislike of plastic wrap.

"I invented beeswax wrap because I thought plastic wrap was a bad idea, wasteful and downright unpleasant to use. Quite frankly, getting a piece of plastic off the roll, out of the box and secured onto a piece of food might be the single most annoying process ever! As a practicing holistic nutritionist in 2008, it also didn’t make sense to me to save natural food in unnatural plastic."

© Abeego – Toni Desrosiers

She highlights one of Abeego's most interesting features, which is something that hadn't even occurred to me when I first starting using it – that a beeswax wrap is the closest thing to a food's natural skin. It looks and acts like nature’s rind, skin or peel, which extends its life. Desrosiers explains:

"Food saved in airtight ways suffocates and sweats. Abeego acts like a second skin so food breathes and is protected from air, light and moisture. As a result, you can enjoy vibrant herbs, green avocados and fresh lemons for longer than ever imagined."

© Abeego (used with permission)

The wraps are all made in Victoria, British Columbia, using a machine that Desrosiers invented. Cotton and hemp organic cloths are infused with a mixture of beeswax, jojoba oil, and tree resin solution, and all scraps left over in the manufacturing process are sold as fire starters. (Even your old wrap, once it loses its stickiness, can be used as a fire starter, or just cut up and composted.)

When I asked about partnerships with restaurants – which is where it would be really great to see less plastic being used – Desrosiers said it's in the works. "We have two challenges we’re working to overcome: cost per wrap and proper care of Abeego in a commercial setting [but] we’re confident you’ll see Abeego in commercial kitchens in the future."

© Abeego (used with permission)

If you haven't tried an Abeego beeswax wrap yet, do give it a try and prepare to have your mind blown. It's so exciting to encounter an eco-friendly product that has been designed to replace a single-use one, and for it to be easier to use, more intuitive, and better-performing than the disposable it's replacing. No part of a beeswax wrap feels like an inconvenience to use; in fact, the smell, the texture, and the efficacy make it a pleasurable experience. Wrapping leftover food has never been so exciting!