Credits: Social Media
Want to end plastic waste? Start with your tea bags
Most of us want to do our part to help end plastic waste. But we have no idea how intrinsic it’s become to our everyday lives.
Plastic, the once-coveted material that took America by storm in the 1940s, has become an insidious yet unavoidable part of our daily routines. So much so, from the moment we roll out of bed, most of us have already committed our first plastic sin. Tea bags.
Who would have thought?
They might only contain a very small percent of plastic, but the seemingly innocuous tea bag is a massive contributor to the slew of microplastic contaminants plaguing our planet and its oceans.
How did we end up with tea bags anyway?
Tea bags, widely documented as a happy accident, succeeded the use of metal containers, tea eggs and tea balls, which came attached to a metal chain.
Tea importer Thomas Sullivan is among those credited with revolutionising the tea bag in 1908, after shipping tea samples in hand-sewn silk pouches. Assuming the packaging was all part of the experience, testers dunked the entire tea pouch in their cup apparently full of praise for the minimal clean-up approach.
Roberta Lawson and Mary Molaren from Milwaukke also claim credit for their tea leaf holder a stitched mesh fabric to which Sullivan’s business would later also switch.
It was not until 1930 that the paper heat-seal tea bag was introduced, giving rise to the use of microplastics and adding to the harm done to our planet and its unsuspecting inhabitants.
Making changes
Since disturbing scenes of plastic soup, featured in David Attenboroughs Blue Planet, rocked the nation in 2018, plastic has been off the menu for manufacturers trying to minimise their environmental impact.
Starting in 1930, the toxin polypropylene has been used to heat-seal tea bags. But now many popular tea brands are making the switch to bio-plastic, sourced from renewable plant materials such as sugar cane and potato starch.
The problem with bio-plastic, however, is it needs industrial heat levels to break down and, environmentalists argue, claims of plastic-free tea bags from companies using this method are usually misleading. The plant-derived plastic can be included with council-collected food waste, otherwise it is destined for landfill.
Compostable vs biodegradable.
Eco-conscious shoppers should be careful of the sometimes interchangeable use of these two terms in brand marketing.
Biodegradable refers to the natural process of a product breaking down in nature. And, technically speaking, every item does its just some, like plastic, can take thousands of years.
Another caveat is that, as with plastic and other chemical materials, their components can still be harmful to the environment.
Biodegradable items are not necessarily compostable. Products certified as compostable are those which break down entirely into non-toxic components, i.e. they are suitable for your compost heap. Materials like bio-plastic, on the other hand, need high levels of heat to disintegrate, sometimes referred to as industrial compostable. Just because bio-plastic is made from plant material, it doesnt mean it is not harmful to the environment.
Compostable claims were put to the test last year when researchers unearthed a compostable shopping bag after more than two years. And it did not fare well as a reusable either!
How can you help end plastic waste?
Switch to plastic-free brands
There are some tea brands that have fully committed to the plastic-free movement. Hampstead Tea stitches its tea bags rather than heat-sealing them. The tea bag material is also sourced from wood pulp.
Twist teas can confidently boast a home-compostable bag, with recyclable materials making up both their inner and outer packaging.
Many other brands, like PG Tips, Clipper and Pukka, Yorkhire Tea and Tea Pigs, which have switched to plant-based materials (bio-plastic), can be industrially composted and disposed of with council food waste.
Switch to loose-leaf tea
Loose-leaf can be found in tea shops, from online retailers, or in some zero-waste stores. While at the more expensive end of the scale, antioxidants and anti-inflammatories present in tea are more abundant in the loose-leaf variety than in its bagged counterpart. It also gives you an excuse to buy a nice teapot.
Grow your own
Eco-conscious tea addicts could also purchase their own Camellia sinensis, or tea plant, for an affordable solution. The good news is it is an easy plant to grow even in cooler climes, and if you prefer, you can enjoy all four traditional tea varieties (black, green, white and oolong).
Forage or grow herbal teas
Natures bounty means you can have your pick of the bunch when it comes to herbal tea. The abundance of so-called weeds like nettles and chamomile, herbs like rosemary lemon balm, and mint, makes you question why they are packaged up in the first place. And for an immune-boosting tonic, a lemon and ginger infusion can easily be created fresh – providing you prefer to forage in the supermarket.
The problem of microplastics is massive, and difficult to navigate in todays consumer society. The only feasible way to end plastic waste on a domestic level is in baby-step proportions. And theres no harm in starting with a cup of tea.
