Interesting read - thanks Dove As I drink so much of the stuff I was certainly getting way too much caffeine, so I have 3 cups of proper builder strength Assam tea in the morning and for the rest of the day I drink Redbush tea which is caffeine and tannin free - I'm a redbush convert now
I did spot some Jasmine flower bud tea in Waitrose this morning, so will give that a try later
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I had no idea teabags ever contained plastic. Glad to hear it's being phased out. I'd be up for banning ALL single use plastic whenever alternatives are available.
And yeah you can't beat a strong cup of Assam, from a fellow tea guzzler.
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour".
I only drink Thompsons tea, the blue one tailored to our water, but it isn't available in loose leaf unfortunately. I've had to get the decaff stuff recently too, as there's been no stock of the usual one, which isn't as good. Makes no difference to me whether it's decaff or not. Coffee's the same.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I drink tea very rarely ... and only Darjeeling. @WonkyWomble is another 'only Darjeeling' tea drinker ... she once caused much consternation when younger and being searched and asked by police to empty her pockets as part of a 'check' ... she produced her usual half-dozen teabags from her pocket .... they were very confused ... apparently 😵
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I love tea, hate coffee. I have a couple of the basket thingies, similar to Pete's and loose leaf tea for my 3 or 4 cups of 'real tea' each day and I also like some of the pukka teas and dragonfly earl grey redbush - all tea bags but plastic free. In summer I often just put herbs that I grow in some boiling water, which is about as eco as I can manage.
As for the plant tea bags, I've had enough plant failures now that I go looking for them as soon as I get the plants home - mostly it's the plugs sent in the post that are strangled at birth by the things. I've no idea whether they're made of something degradable but it doesn't degrade. I haven't bought plants for ages though - not since the pandemic began, I don't think - just seeds
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I’m all in favour of eliminating unnecessary plastic and I appreciate that on a national or global scale plastic in tea bags is a lot of plastic. But how much is it for the individual? How much plastic is there in, say, a daily ration of five teabags? How does that compare to one of those plastic ‘stockings’ that red onions sometimes come in? Or one plastic bag that contains potatoes? Or a fleece top?
I’m not being prickly here. I am genuinely interested in such comparisons.
I’m sort of answering my own question here because I have just looked it up. A roll of 30 medium sized freezer bags is equivalent in terms of plastic to 3,800 tea bags.
I think most of us make steps towards being being environmentally responsible while aware we could do so much more. But there are so many contradictions: how many shop responsibly always buying loose vegetables, for example, while holding a belief that clothes and towels must be washed after a single use? They have electric cars but make no compromises on foreign holidays; they dutifully recycle waste materials in their homes but shudder at the idea of second hand clothes.
I only drink PG tips, compostable tea bags, plant based,broke them open before adding to the compost heap and a year later, they hadn't degraded,so I don't add them to the compost bins anymore.
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As I drink so much of the stuff I was certainly getting way too much caffeine, so I have 3 cups of proper builder strength Assam tea in the morning and for the rest of the day I drink Redbush tea which is caffeine and tannin free - I'm a redbush convert now
I did spot some Jasmine flower bud tea in Waitrose this morning, so will give that a try later
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
And yeah you can't beat a strong cup of Assam, from a fellow tea guzzler.
Makes no difference to me whether it's decaff or not. Coffee's the same.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I see M&S still at the bottom of the list. And... still selling their dirty salmon as fresh caught and sustainable.
As for the plant tea bags, I've had enough plant failures now that I go looking for them as soon as I get the plants home - mostly it's the plugs sent in the post that are strangled at birth by the things. I've no idea whether they're made of something degradable but it doesn't degrade. I haven't bought plants for ages though - not since the pandemic began, I don't think - just seeds
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I’m not being prickly here. I am genuinely interested in such comparisons.
I think most of us make steps towards being being environmentally responsible while aware we could do so much more. But there are so many contradictions: how many shop responsibly always buying loose vegetables, for example, while holding a belief that clothes and towels must be washed after a single use? They have electric cars but make no compromises on foreign holidays; they dutifully recycle waste materials in their homes but shudder at the idea of second hand clothes.
Life is complicated.