Mum creates beeswax wraps
Katrina Pereka has given plastic the flick from her home and says if you’re going to make a change it has to be affordable.
With more research, the stay-at-home mum of seven children riding the wave of enviromentalism weighed up the health and budget costs for families.
“Plastic is toxic and wrapping food in it is not good for food and our kids’ health.”
Katrina then thought how she could make the change for her family which soon extended to offering the same benefits to other families.
The KiwiBee wraps were created. This Manawatu¯ mum, artist and entrepreneur launched her 100 per cent cotton beeswax wraps that come in six sizes.
Daughter Destiny paints the beeswax on to the wraps which are infused with coconut oil.
Katrina demonstrated how the coconut oil infused-wrap melts from the warmth of your hands and moulds around the bowl.
She then tipped the bowl upside down and showed how secure the wrap was and prevented spills.
There are smaller wraps for cups or glasses, and larger wraps for bigger containers. Each of the wraps has Kiwiana designs of tui in po¯ hutukawa trees, the quintessential 50s holiday caravan, and for the kids’ lunch wraps the designs are the Minions, Superman, Superwoman and unicorns.
“The kids’ wraps are for lunches and should last for a few months. To clean I dip them in cold soapy water, rinse and wipe.”
And the wraps can be composted at the end of its life which can be several months. Katrina then looked at microfibre cloths which she says holds bacteria and the little fibres wash into our waterways.
So she handknits 100 per cent cotton dishcloths which have found favour with women who knitted them in previous years.
Her war on plastic continues with fruit and vegetable bags to replace the single-use plastic bags and compostable cornstarch bags for her wraps and dishcloths.
All of this, Katrina says, comes from her passion of the lost art of the stay-athome mum.
■ KiwiBee can be bought fromwww.kiwibee.net