If you’ve been around the natural and green living scene for a while (or even if you haven’t), you probably know the safety of plastic has been a hot topic for quite some time. For me personally, when I learned that there is plastic in a lot of tea bags, I knew that was an issue on two levels. For one thing, I avoid heating my food in plastic, so pouring boiling water on plastic and drinking it doesn’t sound like a good idea. And secondly, I would like to eliminate as much single-use plastic waste as possible from my life.
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Why is there plastic in tea bags?!
Most teabags contain polypropylene. Polypropylene is a form of plastic that is not biodegradable. This plastic is often used to heat seal teabags to prevent them from leaking. Oftentimes there is also plastic in the string and the tag attached to the teabag.
What this Means for Composting
If you are a composter, it is important for you to know that the plastic in tea bags means they’re not biodegradable. Composting tea bags containing plastic will leave bits of problematic microplastic in the soil.
Plastic-Free Teas
Thankfully, if you are a tea-lover but would like to drink tea without the plastic, you do have options!
Teas with Plastic-Free Tea Bags
1. Numi Tea
From the Numi Tea website: “We use recyclable cardboard outer packaging made of 85% post-consumer waste and printed with soy-based inks. We do not use plastic shrink wrap. We use natural, biodegradable filter-paper tea bags rather than nylon or GMO-origin tea sachets. We’re working with 30 mission-driven companies to launch the first home-compostable, plant-based, non-GMO material for overwrap and packaging.” Numi teas are also organic and fair-trade certified.
You can find a wide variety of Numi Teas on Amazon, or in many grocery chains or health food stores. My current favorite is the naturally sweet, herbal honeybush tea!
2. Organic Rishi Teas
Rishi’s organic teabags are potato and corn based, and without any glue or binding agents. Rishi Tea’s website describes their sourcing and relationships with growers: “Our Direct Trade is founded upon long-standing, personal relationships with growers who cultivate ecologically sustainable gardens in remote locations around the world.”
There are a lot of delicious looking Rishi Teas available on Amazon as well, or in some grocery stores.
3. Organic Yogi Teas
Organic Yogi Tea’s teabags are made from quality hemp and wood pulp, and are not heat sealed. They do not contain any plastics or polypropylene. According to DoneGood, an excellent source for finding companies doing good to people and the planet, Yogi Tea “pays all workers a living wage, sources from Rainforest Alliance certified farms and all products are 100% organic and delivered in eco-friendly packaging.”
My #1 favorite kind of tea is Yogi’s Egyptian Licorice tea, pictured above. It doesn’t really taste like licorice candy, but it is naturally sweet with a little bit of spice.
Yogi Egyptian Licorice tea and many other organic Yogi teas are available on Amazon, and some are available in grocery stores and most health food stores as well.
Loose Leaf Teas
The other obvious choice for avoiding plastic in tea bags is to brew loose leaf tea. Instead of coming prepackaged in tea bags, loose leaf tea is brewed with reusable tea infusers, which are usually made of stainless steel. All you have to do is measure the amount of loose leaf tea into the infuser, let it steep for the given length of time, then empty the tea infuser into a compost bin or waste basket and wash it out.
I recommend these stainless steel tea infusers on Amazon:
Numi Organic Tea is one of my favorite tea brands, and they sell multiple kinds of loose leaf teas on Amazon! Not only are Numi teas organic, but they’re also ethically sourced & farmed, with Fair Trade Certified™ & Fair Labor Verified ingredients. Plus, their packaging is recyclable biodegradable.
