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Do you ever find yourself at the French Broad River staring at piles of plastic litter wondering what you can do to stop this?  Asheville GreenWorks and our sister page, Going Plastic Free, are here to help you make this happen! Mind Your Plastic May is a month-long campaign to inform you about the grave social and environmental harms that ensue from plastic waste and equip you with the knowledge to reduce plastic in your own life.  

All month long, we will be sharing plastic reduction tips, volunteer opportunities to address plastic waste, educational materials featuring local Asheville businesses, and much more. We aim to foster knowledge and encourage mindfulness around plastic consumption and disposal for individuals and business owners. This month, we hope you will follow us on Facebook and Instagram, where you will gain valuable knowledge about how to refuse, reduce, reuse, and recycle plastics, as well as learn about local waste reduction efforts.

Join our 
Race2Reduce and commit to decreasing your plastic usage for the entire month of May. Sign up here to join the challenge and earn points to win a $25/$50/$75 gift card to Ware!

Many thanks to the businesses and restaurants who supported this effort and are working hard to reduce their own plastic waste. #goingplasticfree

Join us in our love for the planet as we
 address and defeat our global plastic addition.
Donate now for a plastic-free future
Mind Your Plastic May is meant to encourage and challenge us in our journey to live plastic free. These posts are created by GreenWorks staff. If you've found these posts helpful and encouraging, please consider making a donation to support this work. If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

Plastic Wrap is Out, Beeswax Wrap is What it’s All About!

5/10/2019

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Using plastic wrap to keep your sandwich fresh for a couple of hours, or to cover a bowl overnight may not seem outrageous—but when you consider that those few hours of use are followed by an eternity in the landfill, or worse, drifting through our treasured landscapes, the cost-benefit analysis doesn’t look so good. Despite this reality, plastic wrap has remained an unfortunate staple in almost every kitchen, and continues to contribute to the roughly 300 million tons of plastic waste generated each year. Unfortunately, as with so many detriments to our environment, these products are frustratingly convenient, and few eco-friendly alternatives that can serve the exact same function have presented themselves. That is...until now!

We can now leave these incredibly wasteful plastic wraps behind, and usher in the new era of “beeswax wraps”! These beautifully simple creations serve the same function as plastic wraps but are reusable, and consist of as little as a piece of cotton fabric and beeswax. In its simplest form, a beeswax wrap is a cloth that has been imbued with melted beeswax and then allowed to cool. Doing so allows this exciting new kitchen staple to emulate the convenience and efficacy of plastic wrap in two main ways: the piece of cloth is now air and water tight, thanks to the beeswax (thank you honey bees!), and is rigid and tacky (to the touch, not the eyes) enough to “cling” and mold to whatever it needs to. Your sandwich can now stay fresh and that half an onion in your fridge can stay covered without sending another piece of forever-trash to our constantly growing landfills.
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Lucky for us, these earth-friendly wraps are available for purchase all over the internet, and are showing up in many stores. Several local, Asheville shops carry them (see below).  Even more exciting—they’re easy to make at home! All you need is an oven, some cloth, and some beeswax pellets known as pastilles. Some recipes include other naturally derived ingredients like jojoba oil. Check out the DIY link below for one of many excellent blog entries detailing ways to make your own wraps. In order to make beeswax wraps as low-impact as possible, try getting wax from a local beekeeper, or local craft shop, and find your cloth material at a clothing consignment store!

With beeswax wraps in your arsenal of reusables, minding your plastic this month will be all the easier!


DIY Beeswax Wraps (also includes a beeless vegan recipe):

https://blog.mountainroseherbs.com/the-complete-guide-to-diy-beeswax-wraps-including-a-beeless-vegan-food-wrap

Where to Buy Beeswax Wraps Around Asheville:
Lick Log Branch Apiaries in Fairview - You can find owner Ricky Manning selling his homemade beeswax wraps at local tailgate markets

The Asheville Bee Charmer at 38 Battery Park Ave, Asheville, NC 28801

Villagers at 278 Haywood Rd, Asheville, NC 28806

If online shopping is your forte, check out one of the pioneering beeswax wrap manufacturer’s (who clearly snagged the best name): Bee’s Wrap based out of Vermont


*Have an allergy to beeswax? Fortunately, there are non-beeswax alternatives. This website that’s listed above has a DIY recipe for making your own non-beeswax wraps: https://blog.mountainroseherbs.com/the-complete-guide-to-diy-beeswax-wraps-including-a-beeless-vegan-food-wrap. There are also reusable silicone bowl covers that stretch to different sizes, silicone sandwich bags and waterproof cloth sandwich bags. You can find these online or locally at shops like The Littlest Birds in West Asheville.

Peter Menzies
Asheville GreenWorks
Urban Habitats Education Coordinator
​AmeriCorps Project Conserve Member

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​Asheville GreenWorks is a 501(c)3 non-profit environmental organization, governed by a Board of Directors. Established in 1973, GreenWorks mission is to inspire, equip and mobilize individuals and communities to take care of the places we love to live.
  • Hard 2 Recycle
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      • How to Apply
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • 10th Anniversary Yearlong Pollination Celebration
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
      • Pollinator Gardens & Meadows Project
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
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