Plastic bags? The hidden waste in your cuppa
Ah tea! What would I do with out you? You greet me first thing in the morning, settle me to bed at night, warm my hands in the winter and lubricate many a social occasion. I do love my tea. But I don’t feel quite so warm about plastic…
That’s why I was more than a little shocked to find that most tea bags are only 70-80% biodegradable. The other 20-30%? Polypropylene mesh – or single use plastic to you and me.
I’d been happily dropping those little soggy bags into my kitchen top composter, lugging them to the allotment, and then turning them out on to the compost pile in the mistaken belief that it would all rot down just like the books had said it would. AAARGGH! In three-to-four months time the paper parts and leaves may be gone but the little plastic skeletons of all my much loved cuppas are still going to be there haunting the soil like the ghost of lunchtimes past.
I’m not happy with this. Not happy at all.
I pondered switching to one of the companies who don’t commit this eco-sin but I struggled to find one who didn’t wrap their boxes in plastic shrink-wrap. It was more than a little disheartening to find out just how pervasive plastic is when trying to buy something that is, essentially, fermented plant.
My solution? In the end I opted for loose leaf tea and paired it with a flock of little homemade tea-bags. I’ve come to really enjoy the ritual of it – swirling water growing darker and darker until my very particular colour is reached - and if you choose green tea you can reuse the leaves a few times too. Win!
And speaking of tea, I think I could really use a cup about now…
