The Hidden Danger: Microplastics in Tea

I recently learned that most commercial tea has plastic built into the teabags to seal them. When you pour hot water onto the teabag, guess what melts into your drink while the tea steeps? Billions of microplastics and nanoplastics, that’s what.

If you think that sounds unhealthy, you’re right. These plastics are bad for us, and they’re bad for the environment. I wrote a more detailed post about microplastics and how to avoid them if you’d like to know more. The short version is that the human health issues are still being studied — so far, microplastics are confirmed to be linked to heart disease and respiratory issues, and are suspected to be linked to hormonal disruption, reproductive issues, neuro-development, inflammation, digestive health, cancer risks, and more. The ecosystem disruption is just as severe — these tiny plastic particles harm biodiversity, corrupt water and soil, and ultimately find their way into us through most of what we now eat.

The good news is that this is an easy switch to make. My sustainable step for this week is to declutter my pantry (bonus) of all the tea bags with plastic in them, and make a shopping list for what I’ll replace them with.

Which Brands of Tea Have Plastic?

Here are some well-known brands that have been reported to contain plastic:

• Celestial Seasonings (their “pillow” bags — with no string or staple)
• Lipton
• Mighty Leaf Teas
• Tazo
• Teavana (Starbucks)
• Tetley
• Twinings (but stay tuned; they seem to be looking for alternatives)

Which Brands Don’t?

These are the brands I’ll shop for instead:

• Celestial Seasonings (paper bags with string, staple, and individual wrapper)
• David’s
• Numi Organic
• PG Tips
• Pukka
• Republic of Tea
• Rishi
• Stash
• Traditional Medicinals (also a B Corp)
• Yogi
• Yorkshire

Bonus Step 1

Loose leaf tea avoids the problem altogether, while creating less waste. It’s hard to give up the convenience of a tea bag — and you don’t have to give it up for always. But, since ditching my beloved Tetley last week, I’ve pulled my tea infuser out of storage and been drinking some loose jasmine tea we’ve had sitting in our pantry for ages.

If you’re looking for a good infuser, I find this one from David’s super convenient — much less messy than a metal ball.

You can also just leave the leaves loose in the bottom of your cup, and read them when you’re finished to learn your future.

Bonus Step 2

How do you boil your water? Some kettles have plastic parts that heat up with the hot water inside — which is another way micro and nanoplastics can get into your tea. Check out this list of plastic-free options if you feel like it’s time to replace yours. You can always use a stainless steel pot on the stove in the meantime!

Bonus Step 3

Is there a brand of tea you love, but they use plastic in their teabag? Write them a letter and tell them you’re going to miss them until they make that change. I think I’ll do that with Tetley. (While I’m sipping on PG Tips.)

My goodbye pile below — would anyone like some free plastic tea?