Plastic Free Loose Leaf Tea

By far the most sustainable way to drink tea is without single-serve packaging. Loose leaf tea is plastic-free. Loose leaf tea is zero waste because your leaves can go straight into the compost. Loose leaf tea saves precious resources - think of the forests destroyed to make paper teabags, and the acres of monocrop corn and virgin plastic used to make "silken" bags. Read more...

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No nanoplastics will find their way into your teacup or you. Lastly, it uses none of the carbon and chemicals needed in the industrial manufacture of bags. Loose leaf tea is by far the most eco-friendly tea solution.

What types of eco-friendly tea do you stock?

ALL of our teas are sustainably and ethically sourced. We are dedicated to going beyond organic to support farms committed to sustainable farming practices and regenerative agriculture. We don't offer teabags, only the best loose leaf tea. Find out more here.

Sustainability is at the heart of what we do at Rare Tea, from the farm to your cup. We ship our teas by sea to our bases in the UK and US (rather than airfreight) wherever possible to keep our carbon footprint down. And by buying direct trade straight from the farm, your tea has not been passed between many hands and taken on any unnecessary journeys.

As well as tea leaves we also source herbs and spices from many of our partner farms, including lemongrass from Sri Lanka and ginger from Sikkim in India. These herbs and spices help promote biodiversity in the gardens. We support smallholder farmers within tea communities, like Satemwa who grow herbs such as lemon verbena and spearmint that not only increase the rich diversity of the land but also provide essential year-round income.

Our Wild Rooibos, usually grown as a monocrop, is another great example of the environmental work being done by the amazing people growing our teas and herbs. Please follow this link to find out more about our beautiful Rooibos.

All our teas are made with natural ingredients rather than synthetic additives. For example, our Rare Earl Grey tea is made with pure bergamot oil from ancient citrus groves in Calabria, Italy, whereas the vast majority of earl grey tea bags use a 'natural' flavouring created in a lab.

How do you drink tea without microplastics?

I’m sure you’ve read about the invisible plastic mesh hidden inside paper teabags, but they can also be found in the solvents and glues used to seal bags. It's hard to know what you’re putting in your cup without a lab to analyse it. Avoiding teabags altogether in favour of loose leaf tea is therefore the best way to avoid microplastics and ensure you're drinking plastic-free tea.

Does loose leaf tea contain plastic?

When you choose sustainable loose leaf tea you choose plastic-free loose leaf tea. Better for the planet and better for you.

Is loose tea better than tea bags for the environment?

There is no such thing as an eco-friendly teabag. Tea bags are single-use waste of precious resources. Choosing high-quality loose-leaf tea is better for the environment than tea bags. Not only because you are eliminating the single-use of natural resources and the industrial chemicals used in their manufacture, but the energy and carbon footprint.

We don't have an organic certification but have all of our teas tested to ensure they are free from any chemical pesticides or herbicides. To find out more about our approach to organic read more here.

How can you tell if a tea bag is plastic?

You cannot tell if there is plastic in a tea bag just by looking at it. It may appear to be made from paper but there are often plastics in the glue used to seal the bag an invisible plastic mesh hidden within the paper. The safest way to avoid plastic tea bags is to drink unquestionably plastic-free loose-leaf tea. It can be made in a tea filter or a teapot that lasts a lifetime.

Is Your Packaging Recyclable?

All our shipping materials can be recycled. We use cardboard boxes, recycled shredded cardboard, and acid-free tissue paper to keep our teas and teaware safe on their travels to you. All orders are packed using only necessary materials and are free from extra documents or promotional leaflets that are too often included to spam customers.

The storage tins that come with our teas are also fully recyclable.

For more detail on our packaging please read more here.