Following a program that aired on the BBC and the discovery how much plastic there are in tea bags, I am so glad I’ve made the change to loose tea.

Firstly, I would like to state that I’m a tea-loving brit. I work from home and probably have about six cups of tea a day so there was no way I was giving up tea forever, I needed a solution.

My partner works for a food distribution company who supply restaurants, pubs and cafes food and beverages. Luckily for me, he is able to purchase these items too and asked him to source loose tea (sometimes at large discounts).

The only issue I have from ordering from my partner’s workplace is that it comes in a plastic bag that can’t be recycled, not really helpful! Once I’ve finished the bag I’ve got, I will be trying out different companies in the UK to find the one I like.

For someone who has always used tea bags the transition to loose tea wasn’t as smooth as I thought it would be. Making tea from loose tea leaves…how hard could that be?

Firstly, I bought a pack of three tea infuser strainers from Amazon. They seemed to be perfect; scoop up tea leaves, leave them to hot water and remove…until they broke, that didn’t last long!

I refused to give up so I looked for a teapot infuser. I found in Sainsbury’s and I was very happy with the results. I’d forgotten that there could be some leaves at the bottom of the mug but that is expected from loose tea anyway. Word of warning; don’t drink every last drop from your mug unless you want a mouthful of tea leaves!

It took a while to figure out how many spoonfuls of tea I would need to make a round for guests but as I post this, we are in a pandemic and haven’t had many, if any, visitors. I will worry about that later. I’ve figured out how to make a cuppa for myself and have it down to a fine art.

Also, the bonus is that I know there is no plastic in this and can confidently put this in my compost bin.

There are so many places in the UK that sell loose tea leaves and some offer 10% off your first order. I’m also on the lookout for companies so if you have a recommendation, please let us know.

The change from tea bags to loose tea may be little but it still makes a difference to the environment.