For the ocean we need
Nearly everyone in the world drinks tea. After water, tea is the most drunk beverage in the World.
But in the UK alone, we are unknowingly drinking 5 tonnes of tiny plastic particles, every day.
Most teabags are made up of 25% plastic.
A single teabag releases about 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastic particles into your cup, gut and the environment.
Microplastics can have a toxic effect on marine life, actually stunting their growth and even causingbehavioural abnormalities and changes in what they eat.
If you take your average tea bag and tear it open, what you’re left with is finely cut tea granules, small enough to fit inside teabags.
So why overcomplicate things with bags, wrappers, and boxes?
However you like your tea, the brew-time is the same. One tea strainer is all you need. There’s no waste, and you don’t have to drink plastic.
Let’s loose-leaf.
Switch to loose-leaf and help save plastic particles from entering the ocean and your body.
Plastics have now been found in the most remote regions of the ocean and it is estimated we eat a credit card sized piece of plastic every week.
Plastics in the body have been linked to an array of negative health outcomes including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic inflammation, auto-immune conditions, neuro-degenerative diseases, and stroke.
By switching to loose-leaf you will reduce unknown health complications for yourself and your body.
Scientists say the ultimate eco-friendly solution is to avoid tea bags and drink loose-leaf tea. There are many delicious loose-tea options out there, just add a stainless-steel brewing pod or sieve and you’re away. Make sure you choose a plastic free packaging option too.
Seek out your nearest package free store and support your local business and community.
Reduce your plastic waste consumption both at home and at work and never litter or leave your rubbish behind. Or go one step further and organise your own ocean clean-up.
The next time you go for a cup of tea use it to instigate a conversation around swapping plastic teabags for loose tea.
Always carry a re-usable tea/coffee cup
Start a local petition to ban single use plastic. Support organisations working on plastic pollution.