Dip, dip dip….your green tea is good for your health, but what about the tea bag it comes in?
Most people in urban areas use tea bags on a daily basis since they find it convenient and easy to use. But tea bags are not always the healthiest choice. Not only can they cause health problems with regular use but they can also pose a serious threat to your environment. These bags are not compostable.
Are tea bags environment friendly?
The answer is really confusing. Some manufacturers claim that they are producing environmental-friendly tea bags and these bags are compostable. But the reality is far from this claim. Even if there is a very little amount of the decomposable material, it will cause a severe problem to the environment. Just imagine the numbers of tea bags are being used every day worldwide. More than millions of teabags are being used. The number makes it clear how tea bags are posing a threat to our environment.
According to some research reports, even the most environmentally friendly tea bags are not biodegradable completely. They can be biodegradable only seventy to eighty per cent. Most of the material will eventually breakdown and change into the soil. But the twenty to thirty percent is made of plastic and will not break down totally. This material will impact the environment negatively. In addition, these small wrappers will be polluting the ocean. In fact, according to the Environmental Audit Committee, tea bags are the major source for polluting our water system due to the non-recyclable components. In brief, you can say that there is nothing like environmental-friendly tea bags.
What is the best alternative?
Your next best alternative to a tea bag, is well, loose tea leaf. You might not know that tea bags were not available before the 1950s. Before the 1950s, people were using only the loose tea leaf. Tea bags were later introduced to the market and became popular fast due to the easy usage and convenience. People started switching to a more convenient option, but at what cost?
If you want to minimise the waste and create a better environment, you can buy loose leaf tea, instead of buying tea bags. Loose leaf tea comes with a number of benefits. You will love the original flavour. The major difference is the preparation and package.
The key benefit is that you will choose an environmental-friendly solution by deciding on loose leaf tea. Most tea bags are made of thin and permeable papers and some of them are not biodegradable. They contain harmful chemicals. The package and material can pollute the environment significantly.
Tea bags use different types of raw materials including carton, paper, and plastic. All these are discarded in landfills eventually. So, if you use tea bags on a regular basis, they will not only harm our Earth but also they will make wealthy countries richer. With an environmental-friendly solution, you will only contribute to your health, environment and the profits of tea producers.
In addition, you might be ingesting chemicals while using tea bags without your knowledge. Some tea bags contain Epichlorohydrin, a compound used as a pesticide. It becomes more active while coming into the contact of hot water. If you consume this chemical, then it might lead to infertility and can impair your immunity as well. Also, it will increase the risk of some dreaded disease like cancer.
Most of the tea bags are white. They choose the white colour to show cleanliness. However, this cleanliness is closely associated with chlorine. When tea bags are chlorine bleached, you can imagine the impact. It will cause many skin and hair issues.
Another noteworthy difference is the quality of the tea. Have you ever opened the tea bag and checked inside? The answer might be no. Do it once to know the difference. You will most likely only find broken tea leaves and tea dust inside the bag. All these are found at the tea barrel bottom. You can say that these are the leftovers after harvesting. These dust and broken pieces contain more tannin. This gives a categorical colour to your tea. However, it compromises the flavour to a great extent.
Loose leaf tea is healthy
The larger tea leaves that you find in loose leaf contain essential oils. When they will come in contact with hot water, they create a rich flavour. Yes, you can also get a good flavour in tea bags. But the difference is that these are artificial flavours and will not offer any benefit. You will not experience this problem with loose leaf tea.
You will find different types of loose leaf teas in the market. Some of them are known for offering a number of health benefits. They have rich anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. These properties can help you in many ways to improve your mental alertness and pain. You can notice an immediate effect. Some are also helpful for weight loss.
Also, the loose leaf does not demand more processing and retains the original flavour. Chemicals are not used to prepare loose leaf tea. So, you will not harm your body while consuming loose leaf tea. The loose leaf tea also creates healthy compost in your garden. Any loose tea is considered better for your environment than tea bags.
Even if the manufacturers claim that they are using recyclable and decomposable material for their tea bags, the truth is far from it. Some portion will not be recyclable and will considerably impact your environment.
Loose leaf tea demands less packaging material. So, they are not going to impact the environment adversely. No doubt, there will be some impact. But it will be much lesser than tea bags.
In fact, tea bags are more harmful now than before. Traditionally, manufacturers were using papers to prepare tea bags. This paper was derived from a type of banana tea known as the Abaca. But now, some major companies have started using PET and nylon. These tea bags cause some serious concerns due to chemical leaching. Just imagine, even the papers are not completely decomposable. Imagine what will happen if they start using nylon!
Plant based tea bags – the future
Some companies like Twinnings are moving to sustainable solutions for their tea bags – changing all their traditional teabags into a new type of paper that is entirely plant based and fully biodegradable when placed in the local compost. Even the iconic tea brand’s hot and cold ‘mesh’ teabags look as though they are made from plastic, but this is actually a corn-starch derived material that will also degrade in local composting.
