Zero Waste Herbal Campfire Starters

A few facts about me -

1. Mugwort is one of my favorite herbs to burn as loose incense
2. I’m really bad at washing beeswax wraps
3. I only go camping because the other 3/4 of my family loves it

So when I was scrolling Pinterest one day and saw someone making campfire starters I knew there were a bunch of ways I could make them both Witchy and Zero Waste.

What you’ll need:

Toilet paper rolls

Dryer Lint

Beeswax (White Beeswax Pearls)

Muffin Tin

Oven or Toaster Oven

Optional:

Mugwort (or other dried herb of your choice)

Beeswax wraps that have seen better days

This was my first time making these Zero Waste Herbal Campfire Starters so feel free to stray from these instructions as you see fit.

My first mistake was not cutting my toilet paper rolls to fit my muffin tin - as you can see in the video, they really should have been almost exactly the height of the muffin tin wells so that I could have filled the beeswax to just below that.

I do however love that I wrapped the strips of upcycled beeswax wraps around the toilet paper rolls to create a “wick” that would be easy to light when I use these to start a campfire.

1. First order of business is to plan ahead and save a few toilet paper rolls and one good handful of dryer lint
2. Cut your toilet paper rolls to fit your muffin tin wells - at or just above the lip
3. If upcycling old beeswax wraps, cut them into strips and either wrap them around the toilet paper rolls to create a wick or create a spiral with the strips, leaving a piece peaking out of the top of the muffin tin to also create a wick
4. Layer or mix together your dryer lint and Mugwort (or other herb of choice) and fill the space inside the toilet paper roll and between the toilet paper roll and the side of the muffin tin well with the mixture
5. Fill any remaining space with White Beeswax Pearls just up to the lip of each muffin tin well.
6. Using the oven or toaster oven, melt the White Beeswax Pearls into the dryer lint and herbal mixture. You may need to add more beeswax after initial melting to ensure that all the internal materials become a single unit
7. Let them cool and solidify fully
8. To remove, pop them back in the oven for a few seconds until they melt enough to release from the muffin tin. You could also use silicon liners so they pop out easily

Our kids are at the age where they’re flitting off with friends families for the weekend on occasion so our camping trip this year got cancelled (sorrows, prayers) so I haven’t actually been able to use these yet but if anyone tries these let us know how it went!