Burlap sacks, made from jute fibers, were originally used for shipping agricultural products. They are strong, flexible, biodegradable, and have many uses, including environmental remediation, decoration, and gardening. They are also widely recycled and can be obtained for free from companies that receive deliveries in them.
A burlap sack is a bag made from burlap. These sacks have a variety of uses, although they were originally developed for shipping agricultural products such as coffee, corn, wheat and potatoes. Because of the primary building material, they are sometimes known as burlap sacks, and regionally as crocus sacks, after an agricultural product that was often shipped in them. The name comes from a Sanskrit word, goni, which means purse or sack. The word was adopted by the British in the 1700s, along with other Sanskrit words that entered the English language due to the colonization of India.
Burlap is a type of dense fabric, usually made from natural fibers such as jute. The tightly woven fabric has immense tensile strength meaning the bags are difficult to destroy or distort from heavy weights. However, a jute bag is also flexible, thanks to the natural fiber, and very environmentally friendly. The fibers used tend to be non-toxic and the bag will biodegrade eventually. The sacks are also usually widely recycled, as they have many potential uses.
In addition to the use in the agricultural industry, jute bags are also used in environmental remediation. The bag can be filled with sand to form a flood barrier, or filled with earth and used as a substrate for cover grasses to control erosion from steep hills and cliffs. Its uses in erosion control are myriad, especially since the bags can biodegrade naturally when more permanent measures, such as grass or rock, are installed over them. They are also inexpensive, making them very suitable for use in developing countries.
The jute sack is also used as a decorative or recreational item. Kid’s races use burlap sacks for sack races, and some interior decorators incorporate the sacks and burlap into design schemes for homes with a rustic edge. Due to the rough texture, burlap is not suitable to wear, as it can irritate the skin, despite the popular narrative of poor women wearing burlap sack dresses.
Homeowners and gardeners sometimes find it helpful to have a burlap sack or two lying around. The sacks can be used to wrap items for transport so they are not damaged or to line flower beds to discourage the invasion of underground pests, such as rodents. Many companies that receive deliveries in these bags give them away free of charge to anyone who requests them, and some garden supply stores also carry them. If you’re using a recycled burlap sack, you may want to check what was shipped first, especially if the sack is being used in the garden. Stray seeds and stones could germinate, potentially damaging flowerbeds.
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