Billions.
Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup
211–220 of 270 posts
Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
My buddy used to work for Lipton. He explained that they use the cheapest grade of tea (dust) available. Also many tea companies mix non-tea additives (fillers) to their tea bags. After hearing this I decided, if it's not full loose leaf, I don't drink it. We found that companies like Elephant Chateau ( http://elephantchateau.com ) deliver the 3 highest grades of tea direct from Ceylon mountain estates with the optio…
I really doubt you had a buddy that worked for Unilever who told you "Lipton uses the cheapest grade of tea (dust)" and that companies add non-tea additives. This is a rumor that's swirling around sites like "Food Babe" but is pure nonsense. See: https://www.unileverusa.com/news/press-releases/2005/lipton-...
Can't compare the grade of loose leaf I'm talking about to the dust Lipton sells, having tasted the difference. Even visually...it's like comparing champagne to cooking wine.
Elephant Chateau - https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61N4gza3WuL...
Lipton (similar look) - http://ongsambee.com.sg/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/tea-dust....
In this case the proof is in the pudding, and Lipton happens to make especially terrible pudding, regardless of any doubts you have.
Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
Celestial Seasons uses high quality ingredients, offering tours for anyone in the Boulder, Colorado area. They also use a patented pillow bag according to their FAQ: unique pillow-style tea bag that doesn't need a string, tag, staple or individual wrapper—and as a result, we save 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills every year.
> unique pillow-style tea bag that doesn't need a string, tag, staple or individual wrapper—and as a result, we save 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills every year. Assuming the tea actually sells Do the 'pillow-style tea bag's use plastic?
>Assuming the tea actually sells
I believe Celestial is in every Walmart, that must be quite a bit of volume.
Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup
#214Lipton tea in mainstream US stores has always suffered by comparison to the English brands. (Tea-drinking is relatively uncommon in the US.)
If they even have any, many US restaurants will often serve tea that's obviously been open-to-the-atmosphere for a long time. They just don't know any better.
In the northern US, we could border-cross to buy Canadian teabags which were far better than US bags ... owing, no doubt, to the number of Canadians of UK-extraction. (Which may also explain why most Canadian beer is better.)
Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup
#215Earlier quoted context omitted.
My buddy used to work for Lipton. He explained that they use the cheapest grade of tea (dust) available. Also many tea companies mix non-tea additives (fillers) to their tea bags. After hearing this I decided, if it's not full loose leaf, I don't drink it. We found that companies like Elephant Chateau ( http://elephantchateau.com ) deliver the 3 highest grades of tea direct from Ceylon mountain estates with the optio…
> Elephant Chateau ( http://elephantchateau.com ) deliver the 3 highest grades of tea direct from Ceylon mountain estates with the option for plant-based pyramid bags (soilon) or a free stainless steel infuser. And the "Shop" button takes me to Amazon ? My skepticism radar is going off.
I bought it on Amazon on a whim and it ended up being a great purchase. Hard to go back to normal tea and we haven't found this kind of leaf anywhere else.
Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
My buddy used to work for Lipton. He explained that they use the cheapest grade of tea (dust) available. Also many tea companies mix non-tea additives (fillers) to their tea bags. After hearing this I decided, if it's not full loose leaf, I don't drink it. We found that companies like Elephant Chateau ( http://elephantchateau.com ) deliver the 3 highest grades of tea direct from Ceylon mountain estates with the optio…
What's the difference between Elephant Chateau and something like this? https://www.amazon.com/Ahmad-Ceylon-OPA-Tea-Carton/dp/B00110...
I've tried Ahmad's Ceylon tea in the past and enjoyed it, but not this particular product.
Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup
#217I drink tea over coffee (for digestive reasons), and I assume I am missing out on really good tea. Any readily-available loose-leaf tea recommendations?
I found a green-ish oolong tea I liked, it's one of these: http://teapedia.org/en/Formosa_oolong_tea (Formosa Jade mountain or Formosa dongding). I don't know about availability, you'll need to find a tea shop and I'm sure they have something similar. The aroma of it is something completely different than cheaper green teas.
Be aware that you might a lot of very different (and relatively unrelated) things if you just search for "Formosa oolong". Based on your description, you might have better luck with "Taiwanese oolongs", "dingdong oolong", "high mountain oolong and "Alishan oolong".
Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
Celestial Seasons uses high quality ingredients, offering tours for anyone in the Boulder, Colorado area. They also use a patented pillow bag according to their FAQ: unique pillow-style tea bag that doesn't need a string, tag, staple or individual wrapper—and as a result, we save 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills every year.
> unique pillow-style tea bag that doesn't need a string, tag, staple or individual wrapper—and as a result, we save 3.5 million pounds of waste from entering landfills every year. Assuming the tea actually sells Do the 'pillow-style tea bag's use plastic?
If you order tea at Panera, that's what you get. I'd say they sell pretty well. It is good stuff from personal experience.
The bags seem to be cotton or very light paper.
Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not tried Elephant Chateau, but I have tried the Ahmad Earl Grey, and it was very disappointing compared to, e.g., Twinings.
I’ve noticed that many of the fancy tea companies make an earl grey that is way too bergamot-y.
I simply use loose-leaf Twinings Earl Grey, the kind that comes in the light yellow tin. It's easy to find everywhere, even in some fairly unexciting supermarkets, and the quality and price are in the tea sweet spot for me. And to your point, it has enough bergamot but not too much. Just the right amount for me.
Re: Some tea bags may shed billions of microplastics per cup
#220> But it's not known if that poses health risk
This is the big question. I think people around the world have been ingesting microplastic for 30 years or longer, yet there's no reported case of any direct toxic effects. So I guess microplastic doesn't have immediately effects on health, but I won't be surprised if future studies find longterm effects, such as increasing the risk of cancer, damage to the circulatory system or the brain.
Overall, I think we must take actions immediately for solutions, but I won't particularly worry about this problem and I'll continue buying bottled water. It's not unlike the air pollution in the 20th century, one has to live with it.
Nevertheless, "microplastic is going to kill all of us" surely is going to be the trope of the next decade.
See also:
* Microplastics found in 93% of bottled water tested in global study https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16793888
* Microplastics found in 90 percent of table salt https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18248471
* Microplastics Are Blowing in the Wind https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19672514
* Microplastics found in supermarket fish, shellfish https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14245133