Polly put the kettle on
“Who wants a cuppa?”
“Stick the kettle on.”
How often do we hear or say those words?
On average, Brits drink over one million cups of tea per day, amounting to a staggering 36 billion cups of tea per year. (That’s a lot of tea!)
Tea is a personal experience. Whether it be the intensity of builder’s tea or the aroma of herbal tea, we each have our own preference. The sensation we get from the moment we switch on the kettle, to pouring boiling water over our desired flavour, to squeezing the tea bag and letting it brew (unless you’re a dunk-and-bin or a sit-and-stew kind of person – whatever takes your fancy, no-one’s judging here), we indulge and enjoy the whole process from start to sip.
But what actually happens to the tea bags we use? Where do they end up? What life does a tea bag live? Yes, they leave a strong imprint on our day – be it the feeling of happiness, sensation, satisfaction, or just wholesomeness. A cup of tea really does make the world go around. BUT, what imprint does a tea bag leave on the world? On the planet? Our planet.
A surprising number of tea bag brands contain a percentage of polypropylene plastic which is non-biodegradable and, therefore, can stay in the atmosphere for hundreds of thousands of years. That means, every year, there are literally billions of tea bags floating around (and that’s not in a mug of boiling water).
The good news is that there are some (though very few) biodegradable bags available to buy. You’ll need to check the dreaded small print on the back of packages and, of course, there’s the loose leaf, natural tea mechanism that some companies have started to offer. It’s 2020 and tea companies are finally looking to the future of biodegradable and environmentally friendly tea bag materials. So, watch this space and be careful when making your tea choices. In short, when you next make a brew make it a good one for you and for me.
Now go on, pop the kettle on!
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