Why Swap
- Here in the UK we drink a staggering 200 million cups of tea a day!
- Some tea bags are made entirely from plastic, shedding billions of microplastics into your cup when brewed
- Some teabags use a plastic-based sealant which can't be broken down even in industrial composting facilities
The Alternatives
Avoiding tea bags made entirely from plastic is the first step worth taking. But it can still be difficult to avoid plastic entirely, since a type of sealant is often needed to join the bag at the seams. Fortunately in recent years we've seen a positive shift towards types of bio-plastics being used to do this by many of the big tea brands.
Industrially Compostable Tea Bags
There are lots of teabags which use glue made from bioplastic which is created from plant matter. While it's still technically a type of plastic, it's at least industrially biodegradable. This means you can't put them in your garden compost bin but they can be placed in a kerbside compost bin for collection.
Plastic-free
Industrially Compostable
Home Compostable
Home Compostable Tea Bags
Completely plastic-free tea bags are not only industrially Industrially Compostable, but can be placed in your garden compost bin, too!
Plastic-free
Industrially Compostable
Home Compostable
Loose-Leaf Tea
When you think about it, a tea bag is effectively a form of single-use packaging. Opting for loose-leaf tea therefore removes unnecessary waste, leaving only tea leaves which can easily be composted at home. When getting new packs of tea leaves look for compostable or recyclable packaging – or better yet, refill using a container you already have.
Plastic-free
Industrially Compostable
Home Compostable