bur·lap

ˈbərlap/

noun: burlap

1.  A coarse canvas woven from jute, hemp or similar fiber, used especially for sacking & shipping.

PRONUNCIATIONS

~ coffee-producing regions around the world ~

Spanish: Arpillera   Portuguese:  Pano de Junta   Hindi:  ऊलजलूल कपरा   Chinese:  粗麻布           

Indonesian:  kain goni   Filipino:  tela ng sako   Arabic:  الخيش ن   Afrikaans:  jute

Haitian:  twal   Turkish:  çuval bezi   Vietnamese:  vải bô   Thai:  ผ้าใบ

Congo & Madagascar:  toile à sac   Swahili:  gunia

ORIGIN

~ The fabric originally appeared in the early 19th century from India.¹

~ During the 19^th Century, the five largest burlap mills were in Scotland.  Dundee, Scotland was known and noted for its production of burlap. ²

~ In many parts of the world, burlap is known as “hessian", originating from the fabric's use as part of the soldiers uniform from the former Landgraviate of Hesse (including the current German state of Hesse), who were called "Hessians."  The name burlap started being used in the United States, and is now the most common name for the fabric.  The word may mean "coarse piece of cloth”. 

USES

~ Burlap is primarily used to make bags to ship goods such as coffee beans and tea. It is a very durable, breathable fabric that can handle rough treatment and resists condensation, reducing spoilage during transit.

~ Burlap bags are often deployed as sandbags by emergency management agencies as a defense against flooding. Although plastic bags can be used, because of their material properties, burlap bags are more environmentally sound because they can be reused/recycled again for use or composted. 

~ Burlap bags are also used in a variety of rescue applications, such as an edge protector for rope rescue operations, as a padding on slings used in animal rescue or used to dampen and beat out brush fires.

BURLAP ~ MADE FROM JUTE

~ Burlap fabric is commonly woven from the fibers of the jute plant.  Although other fibers, such as hemp, can be used to weave burlap, the jute plant is by far the most common source for weaving burlap.

~ 85% of all jute in the world is still grown on the Ganges river flood plains in India³!

~ Below are pictures of jute growing, then being harvested, dried and finally processed for weaving into burlap fabric:

~ Once the burlap is woven, it is then made into various items, such as the sandbags and rescue slings mentioned earlier, in addition to the use of shipping bags of all sorts, including the green bean coffee bags used around the world.

THE JOURNEY OF YOUR BURLAP

~ Think of this ~

~ The burlap material of everything you purchase from Green Bean Goods has almost surely been grown on the Ganges River in India, woven and created as a coffee bean bag and shipped to any one of several coffee-growing regions in the world.

~ The bags are adorned and decorated with the design or graphics from the growing region or particular farm, identifying the coffee contained within the bag as it again moves across the world to its final destination – the coffee roaster!

~ Green Bean Goods believes the interesting journey, beautiful original artwork and heavy-duty strength of these green coffee burlap bags creates a compelling reason to continue telling their story – through the reuse/recycle/greencycle into what you can own and use every day.

~ From India to the world ~

~ From the world to you ~