Zero Waste Tea – How To Identify Tea Bags With Plastic And Replace Them

Were you aware that there are actually teabags with plastic? It's actually unbelievable that plastic is allowed to be in our brewed tea at all, isn't it? That is of course anything but healthy. And disposing of tea bags in organic waste is of course not correct either.

Normally, it is the task of politics and business, hidden plastic in everyday life to minimize them. But as smart consumers, we are now simply moving forward again to initiate change.

In this article, you can find out briefly and concisely which teas contain plastic and which teabags are plastic-free. I'll also show you how you can enjoy your tea completely plastic-free. Let's go!

Background: Are there really tea bags with plastic?

Yes, they do exist! A short but clear answer. Even though many tea bags are made from biodegradable cellulose, there are unfortunately still many that are supposed to have plastic added to give them more stability.

A cup of tea brewed with a plastic tea bag, contains about 16 micrograms of plastic.¹ A scientific study from Canada has confirmed this.

The scientists discovered that just one single tea bag containing plastic can produce around 11.6 billion tea bags. Microplastics-particles and about Dissolve 3.1 billion nanoplastic particles in the brewed tea water can. Tea bags made of nylon and polyethylene (PET) were examined in this study.

Tea bags without plastic in the overview

At the latest after the findings of the above-mentioned study, you should actually be deterred enough to go on a targeted search for plastic-free teabags.

Even though I now drink my tea usually loose I have already completed this search. Here I have listed some tea brands whose tea bags are plastic-free:

• Alnatura
• Tea campaign
• Yogi Tea
• Pukka
• Tree of Life
• Goldmännchen
• Dennree
• Sonnentor
• Messmer

Do you know of any other manufacturers that offer plastic-free teabags? Then write me a comment with your tip.

Solution: How can you enjoy tea safely without plastic?

Of course, you can also do it without a bag! After all, tea in its conventional form is loose. Here are two crucial tips to help you brew tea without bags in the future.

Buy tea loose

There are several places to buy loose tea. Of course, not all of them are available everywhere, but you may have the opportunity to buy your Get tea here:

• In any unpackaged store or classic tea store
• At your local weekly market
• Order online (e.g. here at Avocadostore*)

Tip: I usually prefer Soothing tea varietieschamomile and lemon balm, for example. You can find out which other teas contribute to mental recovery in the linked article.

Brew tea in stainless steel tea filter

Now you have the loose tea at home. All you need now is a such stainless steel tea filters*. You then sprinkle the tea into it. Then simply place or hang it in the carafe or cup in which you want to brew the tea.

That's it! After a few minutes, you can enjoy your tea too completely without tea bags.

Tip: Alternatively, you can also directly this teapot with strainer insert* get them. If you treat them well, you can use them to make delicious teas for the rest of your life 🙂

Prefer tea bags without plastic or unpackaged tea

As you can see, it really does exist: the plastic tea bag. It may be produced in Germany and unfortunately also sold in supermarkets. That's why it's important to know about plastic tea bags and their healthy and more sustainable alternatives.

"Plastic will be the main ingredient of all our grandchildren's recipes."

Anthony T. Hincks (more at Zero Waste Quotes)

I hope that I have been able to help you with this article. Do you have any questions, suggestions or further tips? Then please write me a comment.

Stay clean,

PS: So plastic can be hidden in tea bags. I was similarly surprised when I found out that many Chewing gums contain plastic. You can find out more about this - and what you should look out for - in the linked article.

References:

1. L. Hernandez, E. Genbo Xu, Hans C. E. Larsson; et al: Plastic Teabags Release Billions of Microparticles and Nanoparticles into Tea, available at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.9b02540. [21.10.2024]. ↩︎