ou would possibly assume tea baggage are simply merely paper and tea, that after all, they decompose, and that you’re doing all your bit by placing them in your house meals waste to compost.
However, you’re improper – until you utilize plastic-free tea baggage, that’s.
In precise truth, most of the tea bags we buy contain polypropylene, which is what the tea baggage are sealed with, so whenever you put within the used baggage in your meals waste, you’re truly placing poisonous chemical compounds into your lovely compost that may finally seep into the bottom.
Some plastic-free tea manufacturers differ between being biodegradable and compostable, which is essential to learn about, so you possibly can take care of your used tea bag accurately.
The previous means it will likely be damaged down by a organic course of that wants the precise situations to efficiently decompose – that is most frequently discovered on the industrial stage, the place the next warmth is used than you possibly can obtain in your backyard. And the latter is ready to break down in residence backyard composting situations and can work as a fertilizer afterward.
There are many manufacturers who champion making tea baggage with out these tiny plastic items, and there’s extra which might be altering to rid themselves of it too.
But when your favorite model doesn’t provide a plastic-free bag of your most-loved brew, it’s also possible to use unfastened leaf tea.
We regarded for manufacturers that not solely use various supplies to plastic within the precise tea bag, however ones that additionally take away plastic from the packaging, scale back extra supplies and tags, pay producers a good wage, and naturally, style glorious.
You may belief our impartial opinions. We might earn fee from a number of the retailers, however we by no means enable this to affect picks, that are fashioned from real-world testing and knowledgeable recommendation. This income helps us to fund journalism throughout The Unbiased.
Brew Tea Co correct tea earl gray: £4.59 for 15, Brewteacompany.co.uk
This model is as clear and sustainable as they arrive, and makes all of it enjoyable too. Brew Tea – primarily based in Manchester, makes use of entire leaves (not mud, it insists) and is a member of the Ethical Tea Partnership which helps small property growers. This can be a refreshing brew, stuffed with flavour and depth (no weak tea right here) mixing bergamot oil with ceylon black tea, orange peel and calendula petals. We use this brew as our on a regular basis tea and find it irresistible. All of the tea baggage from the model are produced from cornstarch, the interior lining is produced from NatureFlex and contained in the field is a extremely helpful card telling you what all of the packing is produced from and the way it must be recycled: from the tea baggage and interior lining which decompose in 45 days by way of your council meals recycling bin to the outer field which works into the paper recycling. You should purchase them in packs of 100 now too – for £17.99 in case you subscribe, or £20 as a one off – plus, they arrive in recyclable containers and all of the model’s packaging is totally freed from plastic.
Clipper natural on a regular basis tea: £3.49 for 80, Shop.clipper-teas.com
It’d look most like an odd tea bag, however that is far, removed from it. Every bag is unbleached (therefore its extra earthy color), natural, Fairtrade, plastic-free and non GM. It was the world’s first pillow-shaped bag to satisfy this standards and was launched in 2018. And if that’s not sufficient, it was even the world’s first Fairtrade tea. The teabag is produced from abaca crops – a sort of banana – and the plastic that after sealed the bag has been changed with a fabric produced from non-GM crops. It’s turn into certainly one of our go-to every single day teas, identical to it says within the title, and is by far probably the most reasonably priced on the record. Though Clipper has ticked many containers with its teabag, it is now engaged on making the interior foil packaging recyclable too.
Teatulia earl gray silk pyramid tea baggage: £5.50 for 20, Teatuliabar.com
This progressive social enterprise produced the primary natural tea in Bangladesh, and created a cirucluar working scheme the place native folks profit. Its cow lending scheme means native individuals who take care of the cows are capable of get milk, which in flip supplies manure for the tea plantation.
Since its beginnings within the late Nineties, Teatulia now employs a whopping 3,500 ladies who plant, nurture and decide the tea. The ladies are paid a greater wage than different tea companies and it goes a step additional by offering healthcare and schooling to the employees and their households, so you possibly can know that having fun with your cup of tea didn’t imply somebody within the provide chain was exploited, as is the case on many plantations.
The black tea is produced from camellia sinensis assamica bushes, which have completely regenerated an space that was as soon as scrubland. All the model’s tea is pesticide-free, and as a substitute of utilizing harsh chemical compounds, the plantation is surrounded by neem timber, which act as a pure pesticide.
This earl gray mix is produced from natural bergamot with a touch of orange peel. It is very mild on the floral notes and is tremendous simple consuming. The pyramids are produced from a mesh known as soilon, so are 100 per cent biodegradable, and do not comprise any glue.
Hampstead Tea entire leaf residence compostable pyramids: £3.99 for 15, Hampsteadtea.com
We love this model’s ethos of “cup to compost”, the place all of the pyramids are produced from GM-free sugar starch, which is residence compostable, together with the interior plastic-look pouch that holds the tea baggage. Hampstead Tea was the primary firm to provide a completely residence compostable bag – which takes 91 days. The tea is entire leaf and all of the substances are natural or biodynamic, the place no chemical compounds are used. We love that there is no string or labels on the baggage and it comes with slightly helpful bamboo tong to seize your bag out – good when there is no spoons within the workplace. The earl gray makes a wonderful, well-rounded brew. There are additionally 4 different flavours within the vary.
We Are Tea English breakfast tea: £3 for 15, Wearetea.com
This whole-leaf tea firm began in 2007, and was the primary model to take away the paper tags from teabags. In 2012, We Are Tea joined the Moral Tea Partnership and moved from nylon baggage to ones produced from soilon. Every tea bag is sealed by ultrasound as a substitute of glue, which makes them biodegradable at an industrial stage between three and 6 months, so ensure you put them in your council meals waste bin. It could possibly go in your house compost, however it can take for much longer (at the very least 18 months). When the tea first launched, the plastic interior a part of the packaging was not recyclable, nevertheless it’s now produced from NatureFlex, too. It makes a beautiful cuppa, and we additionally actually charge loads of different flavours within the vary too.
Eteaket royal earl gray tea baggage: From £5.25 for 15, Eteaket.co.uk
Based mostly in Edinburgh, this ethically sourced tea specialist cafe, which opened in 2008, sells its personal brews in tea baggage and unfastened leaf and is a part of the Moral Tea Partnership. The tea baggage are produced from soilon, which isn’t bleached and is biodegradable. The tag is produced from paper which isn’t laminated and is connected to the string by way of ultrasound, whereas the interior packaging, produced from NatureFlex, is recyclable and will be composted at residence. We love this as a weekend morning brew. And undoubtedly go to the cafe whenever you’re on the town.
Nemi Tea inexperienced tea: £4.45 for 15, Nemiteas.com
The tea baggage at Nemi have all the time been plastic-free, since launching in October 2017. The pyramid baggage are produced from soilon, are assured GM free and are completely biodegradable at industrial stage. There’s no glue used to connect the string and labels, as a substitute it is joined by ultrasound and all of the packaging is made with NatureFlex. What we love most about this that the model additionally helps refugees combine into the UK by using them to run their tea stalls.
T2 French earl gray teabag reward dice: £8 for 25, T2tea.com
This Australian model, born in 1996 in Melbourne, reached the UK in 2014 when it launched in London’s Shoreditch. It has since opened 14 shops within the capital and takes its sustainability critically. It’s now gained B Corp accreditation, that means it’s reached extremely excessive requirements in relation to sustainability and ethics. The luggage are produced from cornstarch, however have a extra opaque look than any of the others we examined. The luggage will breakdown in residence composting however it could actually take an extended as 18-24 months so it’s greatest to place it into your native council meals composting the place it will likely be faster. The interior plastic is just not recyclable, however the model is engaged on switching this to a plant primarily based materials. That is our favorite new tea for its floral flavour that we love devouring from a pot on the weekends.
Roqberry: £6 for 18, Thefoodmarket.com
After launching in 2017, Roqberry prides itself on “mixing the principles” by utilizing basic flavours to create fashionable fusions similar to “fragrant sushi and spice” and “black smoke”. These pyramid tea baggage, produced from soilon, encase the single-source tea that is available in black, inexperienced, natural, rooibos and oolong, and all are biodegradable. Because it gained’t breakdown in below a yr, this tea bag must be thrown out along with your council meals waste as soilon composes at industrial requirements (in six to eight weeks). The dice containers are produced from FSC paper that’s simply recyclable, too.
Pukka Herbs: £2.45 for 20, Hollandandbarrett.com
Launched in 2001 in Bristol, Pukka Tea’s baggage differ from all others as every bag is wrapped in a person envelope to make sure freshness – and it’s extra environmentally pleasant than you would possibly assume. It took 4 years of analysis to develop this new packaging, and it has eliminated greater than 100 tonnes of plastic from the model’s provide chain. The envelope comprises solely a really skinny layer of BPA and PVC-free plastic, however continues to be capable of be recycled with paper. Since 2014 the model stopped utilizing a staple to attach the natural string and plastic-free label, and as a substitute makes use of slightly sew to connect it.
Good & Correct Tea: £5 for 15 teabags, Goodandpropertea.com
What started life as a cell tea bar, has now discovered a everlasting cafe in east London. The plastic-free vary was added in 2017 and is produced from the non-toxic materials soilon (which must go in a collected meals waste bin). These are the most important baggage we examined and except for Clipper’s pillow formed baggage, are the one one which is available in a flat massive sq. form, as a substitute of the pyramid. Baggage are packaged in a plant primarily based plastic various known as Vegware which can be compostable, however solely at industrial ranges.
Twinings unfastened leaf pyramid bag: £6.50 for 15, Twinings.co.uk
The Twinings pyramid tea baggage have all the time been plastic-free because it was launched in October 2014. They’re produced from maize starch which is handled by an enzyme that enables it to be spun into filaments. The tea baggage embrace unfastened leaf tea which makes a wonderful brew, however every bag has a label connected that’s coated in a skinny layer of plastic – so it gained’t dissolve if it results in your brew, apparently – and can must be eliminated earlier than composting. The interior foil wrapper isn’t recyclable, however Twinings is the method of reviewing its vary to search out options.
Teapigs on a regular basis brew tea baggage: £4.15 for 15, Ocado.com
Teapigs was the primary model to obtain the world’s first plastic-free belief mark, created by the marketing campaign group A Plastic Planet in Could 2018. These biodegradable baggage are produced from cornstarch, whereas the paper tags use vegetable inks and are, you may be glad to learn, non-toxic. Don’t be dismayed whenever you open your field, as even the clear “plastic” interior bag (produced from NatureFlex) is compostable. The luggage can go in your house meals recycling bin for compost, which can really feel unusual, however they are going to compost.
The decision: Plastic-free tea baggage
We predict Clipper’s everyday tea ticks many containers and is the only option for an on a regular basis brew due to its reasonably priced worth. Whereas Brew Tea is nice for a weekend brew, and we love its strategy to creating recycling and saving the planet enjoyable. We additionally like We Are Tea for eradicating the label and string.