These days most of us automatically reach for the teabags but is that really the best choice? Certainly not from a plastic free zero waste point of veiw.

Nasty Bags

Whats in your tea bag? Paper and tea you wish but actually no.
Firstly is your bag made from paper? Are you sure? Because when you think about it if it really was made from paper why doesn’t it go all soggy when you submerge it in boiling water?

Well it could be because the actual bag that you thought was paper, does in fact contain oil derived, non- biodegradable plastic and so are only between 70-80% biodegradable.
Then there is the sealing. Wikipedia claims “Heat-sealed tea bag paper usually has a heat-sealable thermoplastic” coating. You can read more HERE.
OR the paper may have been treated with Epichlorohydrin to make it stronger
And those bags are so white because they have been bleached with chlorine.
You can read more HERE.

Plastic Free Tea Bags

The technology is out there to make plastic free teabags that are not coated with Epichlorohydrin.
Teabags can be made from
PLA—polylactic acid, a compostable alternative, can be used to make silky bags.
manila hemp cellulose fibres can be used to make paper bags
You can get paper bags that have not been treated with epichlorohydrin that have been made from oxygen washed fibers with no polluting whiteners used.

For example these from Twinings Few things in life are as fresh and delicious tasting as loose leaf tea – or as simple and convenient as the teabag. The good news is, our pyramid shaped silk teabags let you enjoy the best of both worlds. We call them silky pyramids – althoughf the bag is in fact made from a manmade, biodegradable fabric. Looking through the prism-shaped mesh, you can see the beautiful whole dried leaves of tea or colourful buds, where they’ve got just the right amount of room to swirl about in the hot water and release their flavour.You can read more here.
Or Pukka herbs whose tea bag paper is made of a special blend of natural abaca (a type of banana) and plant cellulose fibres.

Sounds good right. Hold your horses… sadly plastic free tea bags doesn’t mean plastic free tea. TWinings pyramid envelopes are made from PET 12um / Polyethylene EVOH 60um which unfortunately is not recyclable. And pukka plastic free tea bags come in tea sachets (envelopes) that have a Polyethylene lamination.

Plastic Free Teabags (usually in plastic packaging)

Twinings silky teabags are made from PLA but come plastic packed
Tea Pig plastic free teabags but plastic in the packaging
Pukka herbs use natural abaca but teabag envelopes are plastic lined.
These I dont know about the packaging.
Tetley Black & Green tea uses Perflo paper bags, which are free of epichlorohydrin.
Numi Tea: manila hemp cellulose, and free of epichlorohydrin. The tags are made from 100%
recycled material and soy-based inks.
Rishi Tea: PLA silky bag
EDEN Organic: oxygen washed manila fibers sealed with 100% cotton string.
Organic Stash: 100% cellulose fibers
Two Leaves Organic Teas: biodegradable cornstarch based nylon,
Organic Tazo
Organic Traditional Medicinals: unbleached bags made from abacá ( Manila hemp)
Organic Yogi Teas: Manila hemp (abaca) fibers and wood pulp, oxygen bleached.
Thanks to Clean Plate for the following information. Visit their website for more.
NB while thebags may be free from, the packaging may contain plastic.

Pg tips have brought compostable teabags. Though I have yet to find them in the U.K.

MESSAGE FROM PG TIPS

Our new tea bags are completely biodegradable and will break into its natural parts down under the right environmental conditions. The best place for your tea bag once you’ve finished making your cup of PG tips is in your food waste bin. The UK’s climate means that the process of the tea bag breaking down in your compost can take some time, so if you want a quicker result you should follow WRAPs guidance: “There are several ways to get rid of your used tea bags. If you have a food waste collection scheme in your area, you can put your used tea bags in there. While the new PG tips tea bags are fully biodegradable and will eventually break down in your home compost, it can take a long time to break down, so you may want to sieve out the leftover part of the bag and discard it or dig in with the compost.

N.B. I think they are still wrapped in plastic.

They also do loose tea that is completely plastic free. Read more about loose tea, strainers and other gubbins, here.

Plastic Tea Bags In Compostable Packaging

And yet in a strange twist of fate you can get conventional tea bags that contain plastic in compostable packaging.
Twinings pack their conventional teabags ( have a plastic content) in compostable packaging. Their Everyday teabag line in the UK comes in a cardboard box with no cellophane. Inside the bags are packed in sealed bags of Innovia’s Natureflex NM material. This is a shiny foil like “plastic” that is certified compostable. Read more here.
I have composted in my own compost bin.

Clipper teabags have dumped the cellophane though the teabags are still packed in plastic bags inside the box.

Loose Tea

if none of the above suit you could always try The only alternative is loose tea. Initially this might seem like a lot of faff. First you will need to source some loose tea. You can find that here

One Cup

But how to steep them? If you are brewing up for the WI, a teapot is fine but what when you want a quick cuppa for one?
You can get cotton bags that you can use to make your own teabags but really who can be bothered with that kind of faff.

I have found that a steel mesh single cup infuser works perfectly. It sits on your mug, you fill it with loose tea, let the brew, brew then remove. Really no effort at all and very easy to empty into the compost bin after. Mine was given as a gift but I have found something similar on Amazon

More

How to make a pot of tea here

Milk

If you take milk, you will need to get yourself a milk man who delivers milk in glass bottles and possibly a milk jug!

Find other sneaky plastics here….

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave