Earth-friendly tea company
We all need to do what we can to limit our environmental impact
To help you do just that, I always use materials as eco-friendly as possible. From the paper on which I print your Thank You cards to the materials used to wrap your orders, through the tea packaging.
Handmade - Recycled - Biodegradable
When possible I even reuse cardboard boxes to post out orders. Reusing, even recyclable materials, for as long as possible is always better. For the same energy/resources spent to produce one product, using it for longer reduces its initial environmental cost! Plus, even recycling can pollute by producing leftovers (smoke, ‘bin juice’) and it also in most cases requires a lot of energy (too often from coal and nuclear).
Unfortunately, it has been difficult to find a tea packaging that was recyclable or better compostable. Really difficult.
There is not much available out there for small businesses and when you think you found something biodegradable you then learn that actually bio-degradable doesn't necessarily mean good for the environment as some plastics are bio-degradable when a bio-organism is added. But the materials don't completely disappear or get transformed into natural components that the earth can process, instead it stays in the ground in the form of tiny particles we cannot see.
The biggest tea bags are made from 40% recycled paper (25% post-consumer) and lined with a compostable film. Just remove the tin tie prior to composting.
The other tea blend bags are made from recycled paper but that's about it for their eco-friendly aspect. :( I'm still striving to find a better, more environmentally friendly alternative.
You may see something that looks like plastic but is nothing like that nasty petroleum stuff. Made from corn starch it is fully biodegradable and compostable.
The self-fill tea bags are made from unbleached wood pulp. Biodegradable and totally chlorine-free.
Did you know? Conventional bleaching using chlorine cause persistent environmental damage and is highly toxic.
But you don't have to worry yourself with that, these 100% cotton tea bags are washable, reusable (remember what I said above about reusing?) and healthier than normal paper tea bags. Handmade by women from rural Assam, where I also source teas from a local cooperative.
Find out more about my commitment to healthy blends and top-quality ingredients, here.
Any question - drop me an email info@alchimiethe.co.uk