hidden hazard, beautiful solution

by Kati Kasza, Evolu founder

In my efforts to lead a more sustainable life, I'm focussing on the achievable (and satisfying) small steps I can take to develop better habits. Among these, I'm harvesting my own home-grown produce, I'm remembering to take cloth bags for my groceries, and most recently, I'm keeping one of my old go-to's out of the kitchen: plastic cling wrap.

Seduced like most of us by the sheer convenience of this stuff, I've recently learned that its components include phthalates.

I know about phthalates because they're also used in some skincare products to soften and blend ingredients. Naturally, we don't use them in our Evolu formulas.

Phthalates are industrial softeners, widely used, in everything from coatings of pharmaceutical pills and nutritional supplements, to building materials, children's toys, shower curtains, flooring, food containers...and, yes, kitchen wrap. Start researching them and you'll find plenty of information to suggest they're to be avoided.

So I was thrilled to discover there's an excellent and all-natural alternative to cling-film: beeswax foodwraps.

These beauties are amazingly versatile. Made with pieces of 100% cotton fabric, coated in a blend of beeswax and sweet almond oil, they're reusable, completely eco-friendly, and if the fabric is well-chosen, they look fantastic! Being malleable, they can be folded and shaped however you like to cover leftovers, wrap cheeses, vege sticks, snacks, indeed any food you want to keep fresh (not suitable for wrapping meat). They're great for wrapping lunches too.

My first experience of these wraps got me excited about making my own. They're super easy. If you're interested there are several online tutorials and recipes available. And it's so nice to open the kitchen drawer to a pile of gorgeous home-made wrappers, neatly folded and ready for use!

In my view it's little pleasures like this, that aren't too hard to achieve, that help us make the effort and if we all take similar steps we can make a sizeable difference.