After you dunk, what do you usually do with those leftover tea bags?
Our ‘save from the bin’ series normally covers what to do with certain food scraps. But, when we heard that Britain alone throws out 370,000 tonnes of tea bags and leaves every year, we knew it was time to delve into this one!
In actual fact, tea bags were an accidental invention. Way back in the early 1900s, a tea merchant packaged his tea samples into small silk bags simply to transport them to his customers. All of a sudden people were dunking them in water, instead of putting the leaves in a pot! Thus, the humble tea bag was born…
To save them from landfill, here’s what you can do with those nifty bags (after you’ve dunked twice, of course!).
Wake up those tired eyes.
We don’t know about you, but we’d rather eat our cucumber than put them on our puffy eyes! Tea bags, on the other hand, contain soothing chemical compounds called tannins, which when applied to the eyes can reduce puffiness and swelling. The caffeine in green tea will also reduce the size of blood vessels and perk up tired eyes too.
Soothe sunburn.
So, you’ve found yourself a little fried after a day at the beach. Lucky for you, the answer’s in your tea bags! Those tannins work wonders for calming the sting of sunburn and other skin irritations. But that’s not all… a chemical called catechins also helps to repair skin damage, making it perfect for that burn.
Feed your garden.
Rebrew old tea bags to make a weak steep and then pour the water around your plants to fight off fungal infections (chamomile work the best). Or, simply place the bags around the base of the plant to keep pests at bay.
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