What does Eco Friendly Tea Bag exactly mean? Eco Friendly means that a product is not harmful to the environment. We believe that the One Earth® material is the most eco friendly product on the market today.
There are a few things to consider when looking for an Eco Friendly tea bag materials. Is the material compostable and biodegradable? Is the material plastic free? How is the material manufactured?
A lot of companies will advertise Eco Friendly tea bag packaging but with some research you can find out if the product is the best eco friendly tea bag packaging option on the market.
When considering your options you should look for:
- Compostable and Biodegradable tea bag packaging material: There are many products on the market claiming that a product is compostable but is it certified compostable and in how many days, weeks, etc. 6 – 12 months composting time is not as good for the environment as 21 days. Another rule is, if you can see the tea in your tea bag when the tea bag is dry (i.e. the tea bag is mesh/clear) it is not necessarily plastic free or compostable.
- Plastic free: When searching for a tea bag material, looking for a certified plastic free material is always best. Since you will be consuming the tea, you do not want the plastic tea bag material to leach into your cup of tea. Another thing to look for is the material is certified plastic free. The Plastic Planet “Plastic Free” certification is a rigorous certification to verify if a product is truly plastic free.
- Material manufacturing process: Finding information on the manufacturing process and how eco friendly that process is. Paper products are manufactured with using tons of water and tons of contaminated wastewater going back into the environment. A nonwoven tea bag material is manufactured using a dry process so there is no water or contaminated water going back into the earth.
These are a few options to consider when looking into a tea bag material manufacturer. Other things to consider are: certifications the company holds, the carbon footprint of the material to your door (Is the material manufactured in your country), and is the tea you are using eco friendly. Coffee lovers are even finding eco friendly bags to replace plastic pods.
For additional information about One Earth® please contact us.