Something to bear in mind: most teabags are made with plastic, and release thousands upon thousands of microplastics that you then ingest.
As it’s becoming more clear how dangerous microplastic ingestion is, I would recommend opting for loose leaf tea with a strainer whenever possible. You can use up your existing tea by ripping open the bags and pouring the contents in a strainer.
Most? I’d say it’s at least 50/50 or less. The fancy teas use those awful nylon triangle bags, but the cheaper brands (Lipton, store brands) usually still come in paper/cellulose in my experience.
There’s still loose leaf tea as well. Some of that comes in big plastic bags or containers, but at least you’re not cooking the plastic with that.
Many brands incorporate either plastic fibers or a polypropylene based glue in their paper bags, so be sure to look up each brand, even if it looks like paper.
This list is similar but specifically for UK brands, and is more up to date: https://moralfibres.co.uk/the-teabags-without-plastic/
Basically all UK brands are now plastic free. Only Taylors of Harrogate and Waitrose are still holdouts.
The link you posted says that most teabags contain PLA, and that they break down during industrial composting, but
However, if your council does not collect your food waste, then these teabags perform no differently than conventional oil-based plastic tea bags.
…
PLA stands for Polylactic Acid. PLA teabags are technically not plastic-free, as they are made from plant-based plastics.
PLA bags seem to be better than normal plastic sealed bags, but are still bad. There’s no reason to think that the PLA microplastics will break down, or otherwise act differently if you consume them.
Wonderful. Only one brand I drink is completely plastic free the other has nylon bags for their weirder teas, but looks to be mostly safe(?).
I’m glad I’ve switched to loose leaf for most tea these days. Though even that tea comes in a plastic-lined bag. :P
For orange pekoe, Tetly is my least favorite, but I really like red rose.
Twinings English breakfast is weak, but I love the flavour and double-bag it.
Barry’s.
Yorkshire Gold and a bag of Rooibos in a teapot
