Forum home› Tools and techniques
This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.

citizen science research on compostable plastics - do tea bags etc. turn into compost?

2

Posts

  • LynLyn Posts: 23,190
    It’s good Pete, but I do like to see a tea pot on the worktop 😊
    Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor. 

  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    I can't find loose tea that I like.  :/
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    All Clipper tea has been plastic free for some years now. Thanks for the survey link.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Yorkshire tea bags decompose in my compost heap. They have PLA in now, not polypropylene.
      


  • UffUff Posts: 3,199
    Here's where I buy mine Fairygirl. Not a million miles from where you are. I can recommend Scottish breakfast tea, hearty and good flavour. 
    SW SCOTLAND but born in Derbyshire
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    fidgetbones said:
    Yorkshire tea bags decompose in my compost heap. They have PLA in now, not polypropylene.
      



    It's interesting to read Yorkshire Tea's  honest assessment of PLA. Not recommemded for home composting, they say


  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Fairygirl said:
    I can't find loose tea that I like.  :/
    The thing with loose leaf is it can take a bit of experimenting before you get the quantities and timings right, and even then the second brew from a portion of leaves is usually better than the first. It's even worse with green tea because the best temperature might vary as well. I'm on gunpowder green tea at the moment but I add mint from the garden. The mint leaves go in first with boiling water then the green tea gets added after a few minutes when it's cooled a bit. Probably too much faff for most people.

    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    Maybe it depends on how good the composting is.  I still cannot get avocado stones to decompose.  They are more likely to germinate.
  • steephillsteephill Posts: 2,841
    I used to use compostable bags to line the kitchen scraps bin before lobbing them into the dalek type compost bins. Years later they are still largely intact and a pain to extract when using the compost.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Compostable means that the item can be composted at an industrial composting site.
    They won't compost in a compost bin.

    Waitrose provide small bags for loose veg that are labelled Home Compostable and they do indeed disappear completely after about 6 weeks in the compost bin

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Sign In or Register to comment.