Composting tea bags

Aug 25, 2005 5 Replies

I'm assuming the tea leaves themselves are compostable, but will the bags break down in the compost bin? I tend to drink a lot of tea, and do compost the leaves after brewing loose-leaf tea. I'm just not sure if I should do same with my bagged tea.


Eventually, not soon enough. Tear in half and shake them out. daveA

I have been composting loose tea along with teas bags for years. I have never found any tea bags remnants in my compost. The bags are just paper that quickly breaks down.

Andrew in Kansas City

thats a good question, ive been composting my coffe with the filter and have had good luck,lucas

You're right. I should have thought that non-biodegradable tea bags and coffee filters are not to be found any more. daveA

Keep the remnants in a large coffee can. I let the coffee dry out overnight with the coffee filter holder open to the side. Tea bags generally take about 3 days to dry out in an AC cooled house, may take longer for those without. Biweekly, I take these to the mulch side of the garden and shake out the contents. The paper goes to the burn pit, live in a rural area.

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