It’s no secret that in recent years the world has been looking to plastic free alternatives (thanks David Attenborough!). In 2016, in a bid to help consumers make wiser choices, environmental campaign group A Plastic Planet created their Plastic Free Trust Mark – a status that could be awarded to food & drink products that are packaged without plastics
Oh and did we mention, teapigs were the FIRST tea brand to be awarded the Plastic Free Trust Mark?! Safe to say, we're chuffed and our mums are too!
Hold on... there was plastic in tea?!
The revelation that 96% of the nation’s teabags contain plastic caused huge waves in the tea drinking world. Paper teabags are often glued or sewed together to keep them sealed, meaning that when you pop the water in your cup you're not just brewing tea, but plastic particles too.
When this news made headlines, it left us in a rather odd position. You see, our tea temples have always been plastic-free! Made from corn-starch and 100% biodegradable - you can pop them in with your council food waste collection (the one where you put your veggie peelings) and they'll be taken to facilities where they will break down within 12 weeks. They do need high heat and pressure to break down efficiently, so don't put them in your home compost as without controlled conditions they can take much longer to break down.
Always wanting to do better, we also switched our inner plastic bag (that keeps your tea nice and fresh) to a new wonder material called Natureflex, which is made from wood pulp and suitable for home composting – total game changer!
Sounds great! But what is a Plastic Free Trust Mark?
Designed to sit clearly on the front of the pack, the Trust Mark will instantly inform and empower consumers to make plastic-free choices. The confusion around different logos, and abundance of plastic packaging in the supermarkets means that those with innovative packaging will be nice and easy to spot.
Trust Mark-accredited packaging includes materials such as carton board, wood pulp, glass, metal and certified-compostable biomaterials.
A Plastic Planet Co-Founder, Sian Sutherland, said: “Now we all know the damage our addiction to plastic has caused, we want to do the right thing and buy plastic-free. But it is harder than you think and a clear no-nonsense label is much needed.
“Our Trust Mark cuts through the confusion of symbols and labels and tells you just one thing – this packaging is plastic-free and therefore guilt-free. Finally shoppers can be part of the solution not the problem.”
We’re super proud to be have A Plastic Planet’s Trust Mark on our packaging – our packs of 15s, and 50s have both been accredited and the logo is on packs along with a full recycling breakdown to help you know what to pop where!
Hopefully this is just the start of exciting things to come – more innovation, and more likeminded brands and consumers making positive switches towards reducing our reliance on single use plastic. Watch this space!
