I decided to have a green tea because it’s healthier than soda. It’s healthier, right?
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The first time I saw a bag like that, I was shocked as well. Seems like just the worst idea to use plastic to create tea bags. Turns out it is and they weren’t made out of plastic. It’s a starch based fiber that is biodegradable. I don’t think you could have plastic tea bags here in the EU in any case. I’d wager yours isn’t plastic either. Yeah, so you probably got mildly infuriated over nothing, just like I did the first time I saw one of these 🤷
https://youtu.be/limwsUnH4iQ?feature=shared
Regular teabags are sometimes made using non-biodegradable plastic - be sure to buy those made with this starch based plastic. When I first saw biodegradable teabags I was surprised, I thought teabags were made of paper. Not so, it turns out.
that was interesting, thanks!
there’s still a decent chance it’s only industrially biodegradable: at higher temperatures and pressures than a good ol’ home compost pile normally ever gets near. It could still be a bit infuriating.
It’s dope having municipal compost pickup, guys.
This is almost always the case. If it’s biodegradable at room temperature and pressure, it’ll be degrading once you get it.
We’re probably best off converting most of our things into industrially biodegradable products, and then having our waste go to composting plants instead of landfills.
I can’t really find a source for it, but I remember the EU banning plastic in tea bags quite recently, a few years ago at most. Here in the Netherlands, a lot of tea bags contain(ed) plastic as some kind of sealant.
Also, a lot of tea contains sugar, for no good reason whatsoever.
Also, a lot of tea contains sugar
In the form of fruit or added? If it’s the latter, they will have messed up something as simple as tea even further. When they started packaging them in airtight plastic (preventing one from smelling what you are considering to buy) and wrap every single tea bag in plastic, I already got mad.
Added sugar, that is. A lot of tea bags contain ‘aroma’, according to the ingredient list. However, this ‘aroma’ can be 60-70% sugar.
I’m glad they stopped using metal staples on them too. That always bugged me.
Plastic tea bags are really disappointing. It’s not enough that plastic is everywhere thanks to tire dust, I have to drink it, too? Cool.
At home, I use loose leaf and a metal strainer. Makes less waste, and there’s no plastic.
I have to drink it, too?
If it makes you feel any better, there’s so much microplastic everywhere that there was going to be plastic in that water regardless of what the tea bag was made of.
And there’s not even really anything you can do about it. Reverse osmosis should be able to get rid of microplastics but the fucking containers for the filters are plastic and the lines running between them are plastic so they’re just going to reintroduce microplastics even after filtering!
There was a recent study showing that boiling water could actually break down and remove a surprising number of microplastics so I guess for making tea you might be a little better off but still
That’s a little hyperbolic. There’s a lot of mechanics at play in generating microplastics. Fabrics have microscopically thin strands of plastics. It should be no surprise that rubbing up against thousands of tiny strands every time we move and wash synthetic fabric clothes releases many tiny particles. Plus clothes have to deal with UV degradation making the plastic more brittle.
The plastic components in an RO system should be specced to not leach plasticizers. They should have smooth walls and laminar flow. There shouldn’t be much to abrade the plastic surfaces and shed particles. They may not be perfect, but water from an RO system will have orders of magnitude fewer microplastics. So an RO system still “does something about it.”
We do need to address the problem, but I wouldn’t want people to avoid beneficial remediation just because it has some plastic components.
obviously still better than not doing it but it’s just annoying and frustrating because they don’t make any out of stainless steel construction at least not that I can find. I was able to get stainless steel food grade corrugated piping because they use it in the Solar industry for solar hot water heating. Finding true stainless steel faucets instead of just stainless coated brass is possible although a little bit expensive. I’ve gone stainless for pretty much everything in the kitchen, including reusable straws as well as leftover food containers both the container and the lid. Because it seems to be basically the only material not actively attempting to kill us in some way.
So it’s not as if I’m not actively reducing my exposure to it as much as possible, but it’s really frustrating how impossible it is to escape from entirely
I just got into tea and have had a rough time finding a brand to buy that is loose leaf. They always end up being tea bags like this. Any suggestions for brands?
Loose tea isn’t very common on supermarket shelves. If you live near a store that has a bulk section, then they might have loose tea in bulk. I end up ordering online from Stash or Harney & Sons
Thanks, I’ll give these a try.
Celestial Seasonings and PG tips are good grocery store brands with paper bags, but for loose leaf it’s worth seeing if you have a local tea shop. If there’s nowhere nearby, there’s some great online sellers. I’m a fan of Adagio and David’s tea.
Bigalow has paper bags, the only annoyance is that they come in individual wrappers made of paper/foil/(possibly plastic lining?).
Lipton came in paper pouches wrapped in paper last time I saw one.
I’ve actually had good luck at a local Indian market. Also, places that are specifically tea retailers or online markets will be more likely to have it.
My local coffee roaster also sells loose leaf teas from a local company, and their tea is excellent. I grab some tea when I refill on coffee.
If you’ve got an Asian grocery store near you they’ll most likely have loose leaf. I got into pu’er tea this way and it’s fantastic!
Just search loose tea leaves in your mother tongue and you’ll find some. Ordering online might be interesting as well these days
Tire dust? Tires are generaly made from a kind of rubber, not plastic. A great majority of micro plastics that end up in enviroment and in your body are shed from plastic fabrics. If you’re really worried about limiting plastic consumption check your clothing tags for polyester and nylon. Return to cotton, hemp, and linen.
Tyres are unfortunately plastics in this day and age as well.
As for the share of microplastic pollution, both rank about equally as high: 35% for clothes, 28% for tyres (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/topics/en/article/20181116STO19217/microplastics-sources-effects-and-solutions) - this as a share of directly released particles that make it into the ocean.
Note the interesting fact of fishing nets, plastic bags and bottles making up the vast majority of plastic in the ocean, however.
There’s one study I’m aware of that has tires as being responsible for up to 40% of oceanic microplastics
Tires are generaly made from a kind of rubber, not plastic
Both are made of polymers.
Rubber, also known as latex, is naturally occurring polymer from the sap of a specific species of tree.
“Synthetic rubber”, is in fact, plastic.
Po-TAY-to, po-TAH-to
Are we sure thats not the commonly used silk tea bag? Why do we think this is plastic?
Arghh, two conflicting replies. What do we do?!!
Eat Taco Bell and see who shits themselves first.
A gentlemen’s duel for the modern age.
Aw fuck I’m shitting myself right now and I haven’t even started eating taco bell what do I win
The gift has preaented itself.
…and who would be the winner?
Both parties.
Silk is expensive. Almost all pyramidal tea bags are nylon and/or polyester (at least in the US). Only premium stuff is going to be made of silk and they’ll advertise it as such
God I hate those. Paper tea bags you can toss into the fireplace or in the compost depending on the time of year, but those plastic ones you can’t do anything but chuck them into the trash.
But it’s cheaper and more convenient! Why’d you care about the future, you a commie? /s
I just use a reusable filter for loose tea. Oxo makes a nice one.
Yup, tea cakes with a reusable metal filter. Each cake is wrapped in paper, not plastic. Then you just use a metal mesh filter.
How much tea does one of those cakes make or do you break them up beforehand?
It’s not plastic
Micro plastic stew
Almost all teabags contain plastic. They’re heat sealed. Remember, if you’re old enough, they used to be stapled closed?
Yep capitalism is awesome.
Some still are. Bigelow I think.
But loose leaf tea is much better quality anyway and avoids the issue of what’s in the bag entirely. They also have ceramic filters so you can completely avoid having plastic in contact with hot water
Yeah although a lot of it comes excessively packaged too.
I need to find a food coop that isn’t overtaken by bougie morons with their activated biodynamic dolphin certified almonds and fulfils the original purpose of bulk bargaining by disempowered proles.
Loose leaf is excessively packaged? Normally when I buy loose leaf I just get a tin that’s full of tea and nothing else.
I often find that the tins come individually wrapped and have a plastic seal. They’re also just like pointlessly small and wasteful metal containers that aren’t reused. Idk it’s the whole world really. Better than bagged for sure, just also frustrating.
Tea itself is often exploitative and I just want to fill up a 2 L jar with it :(
Staples have glue holding them in a cartridge ugh… I’d rather have heat sealed nylon(more durable) tea bags
I’d rather just buy loose leaf and use a washable strainer. It’s generally less expensive and higher quality too.
Laughs in loose leaf
I drink tea from similar bags and they look the same but they are actually biodegradable SOILON bags, maybe this one is too?
Some brands now use plant or cellulose derived material for their tea bags. Though they still use plastic for the outer wrappers, which is a bit annoying.
now
Now?! That used to be the default until some hipster companies started fucking shit up with their shitty plastic pyramid bags.
Yes, I was rather annoyed that the last Earl Grey and green tea bags I bought were individually wrapped in cellophane. I live in a food desert, so doubly annoying since I traveled a significant distance for them.
How do you know it’s plastic? I doubt that it is. Fabric can be made airproof by wetting it. That’s how you can use your pants as a life vest too.
These are extremely common tea bags found all over the world that are well known to be made of plastic.
These also look like the ones rishi uses which they claim is silk
brb, going to try to use my pants as a lifevest
Here’s how to do it.
They used to make us learn this in Basic Training for the Navy. It looked absolutely ridiculous and I loved it.
Isn’t it cheaper to buy loose tea and use a tea ball? Does that avoid this entire problem?
My supplier also ships the looseleaf in bags that are supposedly back yard compostable. Lots of options for loose leaf, better tea maybe, too.
I bought a giant bag of lapsang souchon and usually just use my french press. I also bought like a hundred empty paper tea pouches that have alson been good for making spiced apple juice
So there is another one who brew in a french press!
Hello friend, nice to meet you!
What’s a tea ball
There are many designs: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=tea+ball&iax=shopping&ia=shopping
Oh, basically a steeper. Thanks.
I’d answer but i’d have to nsfw it.
nsfw?0x0:answer;
I was in a supermarket recently, and looked at the tea selection (I usually buy it at a more specialized place). There were almost no options without bags; quite disappointing.
Why don’t you just drink water? Soda is extremely high in sugar. You might as well eat sugar with a spoon all day
Challenge accepted.
