Jan 2020: That’s the (Green) Tea

Hi everyone, and welcome back to the blog! Happy 2020! I’m so grateful for your continued attention into the new year. Given that it’s still winter time for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, temperatures remain low and warm drinks remain a daily staple. If you’re a tea drinker like me, this blog post is for you!

Although most waste from tea or coffee drinks could come from the disposable cup, a surprising amount of waste can come from tea bags as well. While most of us (including myself) might assume that tea bags are simply paper packets holding tea leaves, most of these bags actually contain plastic. Check out this useful infographic below:

While using these tiny pieces of plastic might not seem like a huge deal, this plastic waste can add up over time if you’re using them every day. The average American produces approximately 4.5 pounds of trash every single day, which doesn’t help our ever-growing landfills. Furthermore, you might have assumed (like me) that you could avoid contributing to the landfill by composting the tea bags (they do contain plant leaves, after all!). However, if the tea bags are made with plastic, they’re no longer qualified to be composted, either.

A tea bag I recently used that was clearly made with plastic mesh. The green envelope was also needlessly made of sturdy plastic.

Furthermore, if you’re not yet convinced these tea bags are bad for sustainability reasons, then consider health reasons. Researchers in Canada found that microplastics are released into your tea cup when you put the plastic-laden tea bags in boiling water. That doesn’t sound very delicious (or healthy).

To make your daily tea production more eco-friendly, consider switching to loose leaf tea! Loose leaf simply means that the tea leaves are not packaged into individual tea bags, and you can adjust how many tea leaves you want to be brewed! Once you have a favorite tea flavor (i.e. earl grey), you can buy the tea in bulk quantities. Online, bulk tea is usually packaged in a big bag, which is often STILL plastic but is larger and therefore provides a smaller packaging-to-product ratio (i.e. like they do at Costco). This means less waste is produced per the amount of product you use.

The best option is to buy bulk tea in the bulk aisle of your local store! Not all stores’ bulk aisles contain tea, but many health stores have them. Sometimes tea shops even have bulk tea, like this cute tea shop in my new hometown! The best way to collect this bulk tea is to bring a reusable container from home like a mason jar and fill it.

Some loose leaf tea in a personal mason jar.

Vices and Spices tea shop in Santa Barbara, CA. Once you choose a tea flavor jar, staff will help you weigh the tea and fill your container.

Once at home, you’ll need a tea strainer to brew your tea. Tea strainers come in different shapes and sizes and allow you to adjust how strong your tea will be (see below). Once you’re finished brewing your tea, you can then discard the tea leaves (bonus if you compost!), rinse the strainer, and repeat! Minimal to no waste produced from your steamy cup of tea. 😊 And most importantly, no single-use plastic used which would have sat in a landfill for hundreds of years before decomposing. This is opposed to paper or other natural fibers which break down much more quickly and naturally (a more sustainable resource long-term).

Of course, there are always those on-the-go moments, when traveling or away from home, where a tea bag comes in handy. For those rare moments, you can stock up on tea bags made exclusively of paper (and that are naturally compostable)! Three great companies who use plastic-free bags (and envelopes) are Pukka Teas (also fair trade certified), Yogi Teas (Rainforest Alliance certified), and Clipper Teas (fair trade certified).

Together, let’s make tea time a GREEN time, one day at a time! With loose leaf tea, you can customize the strength of your tea, and maybe even get creative by mixing tea leaves for new flavors. You also won’t be getting your daily dose of microplastics, either. 😉

#sustainability #ecofriendly #ditchsingleuseplastics #teatakengreen #looseleaftea #compostable