Kerry MacKay looks into the insidious plastic that may be present in Britain’ s favourite post-dive brew
Fancy a cuppa?
Kerry MacKay looks into the insidious plastic that may be present in Britain’ s favourite post-dive brew
Did you know 19 January is Brew Monday, as well as Blue Monday? We all appreciate a nice hot cuppa after we surface from a chilly dive. Dive boats actively compete for the reputation of providing the best post-dive brew. These chilly months can be a tough time for some of us. Long dark nights, miserable weather, and chilly temperatures make many of us retreat from diving, or even socialising at all. Hence, the idea that Blue Monday, the 3rd Monday in January, is the most depressing day of the year.
While Blue Monday is actually just a marketing gimmick, studies show that winter is the time when depression and suicidal thoughts peak. However, suicide attempts do not reach their peak until a few months later, after some time to think and plan. It’ s a heartbreaking reality.
Enter Brew Monday, championed by the Samaritans, all about having a nice hot cuppa to bring people together. There’ s nothing like getting together to cheer us up, be that going for a dive together, doing a bit of winter club kit maintenance, or just a gathering of acquaintances and friends with a common interest to make us feel better.
Now, here’ s the rub. Did you also know that most teabags are not eco-friendly? Compared to other beverages, tea is quite environmentally friendly. Until we consider the tea bag, because you guessed it, many tea bags are made from plastic.
An estimated 165 million teabags are used every day in the UK. A recent study found a single plastic teabag releases billions of microplastic particles into a single cup of tea, much more than other foods. Microplastics are bits of plastic so small they are often invisible to the naked
“ Check your favourite tea brand’ s box or website to find out what plastic is in your teabags and how to dispose of them properly”
eye and their implications to human health are a hot science topic, but it doesn’ t look good.
Even paper teabags are not immune from criticism. To stop the tea bags bursting open in transit or in the cup, many are sealed with a strip of heatresistant polypropylene plastic, this plastic can’ t be composted.
Many teabags are listed as compostable, but beware, most require a special type of composting. For example, Teapigs teabags are plasticfree as they are made from a by-product of corn starch known as Soilon. Soilon requires high-temperature composting, so it must go in your council food waste bin for industrial hot composting. Most home composts are cold systems, so they will not break down such materials.
So what can you do? The safest option is to use loose-leaf tea. Choose Fair Trade and organic to be even better for the world( check out Hampstead Tea, Hambleden Herbs and Qi Tea). You can get some lovely reusable tea strainers so you can still brew your tea as you would a teabag.( Top Tip: choose a tea strainer that is not plastic!)
Check your favourite tea brand’ s box or website to find out what plastic is in your teabags and how to dispose of them properly. If your favoured brand is not plastic-free, switch to a brand that is.
Now you know how to enjoy an ecofriendly brew with someone to brighten the day for both of you, while being environmentally conscious. I’ d love to see more dive boats using plastic-free tea, it would instantly put them top of the brew league.
If you are feeling super helpful, organise a club fundraiser brew to raise money for the Samaritans and your club. They have a whole fundraising kit to help you. samaritans. org �
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