Ahhhh, beeswax! Can’t you just smell that rich, honeyish aroma when you read the word?!
We’ll get more into why we love beeswax — and our beeswax wrap products. But let’s start with a substantive nod to the industrious beeswax makers, and acknowledge the power and importance of bees for life on Earth.
A Triad of Bee Power
Here are three foundational reasons why bees are so important for life on Earth…
Pollination
Close to 90% of plant species on Earth rely on pollinators to reproduce. Pollination is the process of transporting pollen from one plant to another to allow such reproduction. Honey bees are one of the most widespread and efficient pollinating species in the world.
Food Security and Sustainable Farming
Bees are responsible for pollinating approximately one-third of the food we eat. And of course they produce Winnie-the-Pooh’s golden super food of choice: honey! (as well as royal jelly and pure bee pollen).
The pollination services of bees are crucial for agriculture around the world, especially small-scale subsistence agriculture. Such agricultural pollination increases the amount of produce, improves its quality, and enhances plant resistance to pests.
Biodiversity and Environmental Protection
Honey bees do not just pollinate food crops. They also pollinate wild and native plant species. This ensures the preservation of crucial ecological balance and biodiversity in nature. Nature loves diversity! Could you imagine a world with just dandelions? Nothing against dandelions. We actually love them (as do bees!), but we love the colour and beauty of diversity too (as do bees!).
Bees are also canaries… canaries in the global environmental coal mine. Like frogs, they are a highly sensitive indicator species. So if something is going wrong in the environment, like the use of dangerous pesticides or significant pollution, bees may be the first to suffer ill health and death as a result. Honey bees enable the study of long-term environmental health because they are one of the few insect species living in colonies that can survive multiple years.
Why We Loooooove Beeswax… and our Beeswax Products
We could simply say we love beeswax and our Life Without Plastic beeswax products — beeswax coated cotton wraps, bowl covers and bags — because they smell awesome, and we love bees and all that they do for the world. But there are other important reasons too.
ALL Natural
Beeswax comes straight from the bees. No meddling middle person (aka human) to add in preservatives or additives. It’s water and air resistant, but breathes (more on that below). It’s antibacterial and antimicrobial. The beeswax is already perfect — just as Mother Nature and the bees intended!
The other ingredients in our various beeswax products are also natural: cotton, tree resin and natural oils (jojoba or coconut). And being completely natural, these products can be fully composted at the end of their food wrapping life.
Beeswax Wraps Breathe To Keep Food Fresh
Plastic completely cuts the air supply to plastic-encased food. If the food can’t breathe, how can it live and stay fresh? And who wants to eat dead and shrivelled fruits and veggies? With our Life Without Plastic beeswax wrap products you simply cover or wrap the food as you would with a plastic wrap. The warmth of your hands against the beeswax creates a lovely natural and tight seal.
They Replace Insidious Plastics
Single-use plastic wraps are insidious. They are made of cheap, unstable plastic that readily leaches chemicals (especially if heated or in contact with oils). Such plastics are designed to be used just once. They really shouldn’t be reused because the more they are used, the more unstable they become. Opt for natural, breathable, reusable, compostable Life Without Plastic beeswax products.
Had enough of Ziploc bags? Give our new Organic Cotton Beeswaxed Bag a go. It has a flat bottom to make filling easy. Works beautifully for freezing. Like all our beeswax products, it’s easy to clean with cold water and eco-friendly soap.
A Grateful Nod to the Beeswax Wrap Pioneer
Before sourcing our own Life Without Plastic beeswax products, we carried the wonderful products created by Toni Desrosiers of Abeego. Toni was the first to put beeswax wraps on the food storage map. She rocks, and we have great respect for all she has done in the realm of plastic-free food storage.
Honeycomb and bee image credits: Unsplash