Plastic-free teabags

This article contains PR samples and affilliate links.

Around 165 million cups of tea are drunk each day in the UK – so it's fair to say that it's one of the nation's favourite drinks. And the convenience of popping a teabag into a mug makes grabbing a cuppa quick and easy.

But did you know that there's a thin layer of plastic in many UK brands of teabag?  This is a plastic polymer called polypropylene, that's added to the paper teabag to help seal it, so it doesn't come apart in the box – or burst open in your cup.

Teapigs

Teapigs make 'tea temples' that are biodegradable and contain no plastic. On opening the recyclable cardboard carton, we found what we thought was a plastic bag inside – but even this, as it turns out, is biodegradable. The bag may look like plastic, but it's actually made from wood pulp, and will break down completely when composted.

Teapigs are available online or in most supermarkets, and come in lots of different varieties. Their everyday brew is a classic blend of Assam, Ceylon and Rwandan leaves. Or you could try soothing chamomile, or refreshing peppermint.

There are so many different Teapigs varieties – including some really exciting and unusual flavours, such as chilli chai, popcorn and coconut – that you may find it hard to choose.

The tea pick 'n' mix pack, available online, allows you to select 12 mini packets of tea (each pack contains two tea temples) from the range, so you can discover which is your favourite flavour.

As these teabags decompose, in landfill or in a compost heap, tiny pieces of plastic end up in the soil – which could then end up being washed into rivers and the sea, causing problems for wildlife.

Of course, there's also a chance that this plastic could end up in you too – and plastic ingestion has been shown by various studies to be bad for human health.

Using loose leaf tea is one way to help reduce plastic pollution – but when only a teabag will do, there are several companies producing environmentally friendly, plastic-free teabags.

Here are three to try – and it's worth noting that none of these brands burst open in the cup, proving that plastic is a completely unnecessary addition to any teabag!

Clipper

Clipper teabags are plastic-free and filled with organic ingredients, with no use of pesticides. Clipper is the world's largest Fairtrade tea brand, supporting over 114,000 producers and their families to have access to education, medical care and help in old age.

Clipper's organic Everday Fairtrade Tea is a delicious classic blend of black teas that's rich and full-bodied. They also produce a lovely Earl Grey variety, as well as a range of fruit and herbal infusions.

Tea People

Tea People is an award-winning, fine tea social enterprise that offers an impressive range of loose-leaf teas, as well as plastic-free tea pyramids which are commercially compostable. Tea People was founded to address the issue of poverty in tea growing regions of the world, and now funds educational and social projects in impoverished tea growing regions – helping to empower women, as well as improving access to education and healthcare. Tea People has excellent sustainability credentials too, and all packaging – whether for tea pyramids, tea bags or loose-leaf teas – is reusable, compostable or recyclable.

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