From the first tea bag to the last bit of parcel tape, we’ve given our plastic free tea packaging plenty of thought.
Discover what goes where, and how to give it a fitting farewell.
Our tea bags are made using plant-based corn starch rather than conventional petroleum-based plastic.
They’re biodegradable and suitable for industrial composting, where the controlled warmth and moisture help them break down.
If your council accepts industrially compostable tea bags in its food-waste collection, that’s a suitable way to dispose of them. Always check your local council’s guidance first.
Our tea bags are not certified for home composting. Although they may break down in a well-managed, warmer compost heap, ordinary garden compost bins don’t always reach the conditions needed.
If you compost at home, you can empty the used tea leaves into your compost bin and dispose of the empty bag according to your local waste guidance.
We’re rather fond of making our own compost.
We have three compost bins in our garden. One is being filled, another is maturing, and the third is getting ready to give our vegetable garden a little helping hand.
We leave our compost to mature for around 12 to 24 months, sprinkling a little soil between the layers as we go.
And if something hasn’t quite broken down when we come to use it? Back into the compost bin it goes for another round!
It’s a simple little routine, and there’s something rather satisfying about turning kitchen scraps into something useful.
Now, these are rather clever.
The clear bags inside our tea boxes look and feel remarkably like ordinary plastic packaging.
But they’re not.
They’re made from NatureFlex, a cellulose-based film derived from plant material.
And here’s the lovely bit: our NatureFlex inner bags are certified for home composting.
That means they can go into a suitable home compost bin, where they can break down naturally under the right conditions.
How long they take will depend on things such as temperature, moisture and how well your compost heap is maintained.
If a little of the material is still visible when you’re turning your compost, simply leave it longer.
Please don’t put these clear bags into conventional plastic recycling, as they’re not the same material as ordinary recyclable plastic film.
And although they’re compostable, that doesn’t automatically mean they’re accepted in council food-waste collections. Always check your council’s guidance before using that route.
Our tea boxes are made from a mixture of FSC-certified and recycled cardboard and printed using vegetable-based inks.
Once you’ve enjoyed the last tea bag, simply flatten the box and pop it into your cardboard recycling.
It’s as easy as that.
And if you’ve ever wondered what happens to the box after it leaves your recycling bin, recycling helps recover the paper fibres so they can be used to make new paper and cardboard products.
And who knows? Some of those fibres might even find their way back into one of our tea boxes one day. Now wouldn’t that be a lovely little homecoming!
A little less waste, another useful life, and perhaps even a return trip to Cornwall.
We haven’t forgotten about the boxes we use to send your tea through the post.
Our outer posting boxes are made from a mixture of recycled and FSC-certified cardboard.
And rather than sealing them with conventional plastic parcel tape, we use paper tape with a natural potato-starch adhesive.
Both the cardboard posting boxes and our paper packaging tape can be recycled with cardboard.
There’s no need to spend ages peeling the tape off before flattening the box.
And who knows? Once our cardboard boxes and paper tape have been recycled, some of those fibres might even find their way back into the packaging we use one day.
We rather like the thought of an old tea box coming back for another round!
It’s a small detail, perhaps, but when you’re sending parcels every day, those little choices soon add up.
From our tea bags to the tape on our parcels, we’ve tried to think about the little things.
We know we can’t change the world with a box of tea, but we can make thoughtful choices about what goes into our packaging and what happens to it afterwards.
Whether you’re composting, recycling or simply enjoying another good cuppa, thank you for taking the time to find out more.
After all, every little bit helps — and that’s something worth raising a mug to!
Martyn and Martina
Westcountry Tea Co
Made in Cornwall since 2010
If you would like to know what we are up to and where we will be, please follow us on facebook: www.facebook.com/westcountryteaco/
