The Best Plastic-Free Organic Tea Brands 2024

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If you drink tea on a regular basis, you might want to make the switch to organic and plastic-free! Check out the best plastic-free organic tea brands of 2024!

This blog post is all about the best plastic-free organic tea brands on the market. Lately, I have gotten into the ritual of pouring a hot cup of herbal tea later in the afternoon around 3 pm, or having some ginger tea right after dinner time to aid in digestion. I don’t know what it is, but there is something so cozy about the act of steeping tea and sipping it during the afternoon time for a little pick-me-up. If you’re like me, and enjoy your daily tea, or you know someone who loves their tea, this blog post is for you!

*Affiliate Disclosure: I do have affiliate links in this blog post. If you purchase something from my link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.  This comes at no cost to you, but is paid by the company.  I do not take becoming an affiliate with any company lightly.  If I am, it’s because I believe in the company and their product. 

According to the Tea Association of the USA, tea is the most widely consumed beverage next to water and can be found in 80% of households. 159 million Americans are consuming tea on any given day. 85 billion servings of tea were consumed in 2021 alone. If you ask me, That is A LOT of tea! 

The only problem with these statistics is that a good majority of people consuming tea on a regular daily basis is that they are drinking tea with microplastics infused in their hot cups of tea. Microplastics you say? Yes, a good majority of tea bags that steep in hot water are made of plastic. I think we all know that plastic shouldn’t be heated up, but this is exactly what happens when we steep plastic tea bags for tea consumption. 

Microplastics in Tea bags

Along with the problem that traditional tea bags made of plastic in general are very terrible for the environment; taking up to 100 years to decompose, they also have the potential to fragment into particle sizes of 1 micrometer to 5 millimeters. This means these tiny plastic particles unseen by the eye are infiltrating our environment. Tea bags are commonly made out of bleached paper, nylon, and polyethylene. 

A recent study found that one cup of tea with a plastic tea bag steeped at the temperature used to steep(roughly 95 degrees F) caused roughly 11.6 microplastics to leach into the cup. Some microplastic particles may even be small enough to enter the human cell.

Unfortunately, plastics are still found on tea bags that use paper as well. Plastic fiber is used in the sealants. It is more important than ever to research your tea brands and find out if they use plastics in their bags. I hope to help you out with this post on the best plastic-free organic tea brands and give you my top recommendations

Microplastics are horrible for our health

I think we all can agree that ingesting plastic is not what our body was made to do. Granted, we were made with livers that detoxify our bodies from these harmful substances, and they do. However, our livers are so overburdened these days with the constant bombardment of over 150,000 manmade chemicals and toxins in our world, that it cannot just focus on the microplastics. Our immune systems are overburdened with microplastics and studies on animals have shown that inflammation and intestinal oxidative stress occur in the intestines. Reference 

I think the scary part about microplastics is that they are everywhere. Plastic is in literally everything these days. All our food is basically covered in plastic, we drink out of plastic cups and eat on plastic silverware for convenience. This isn’t shaming anyone as I am all about convenience as well as a mom of 4. I think the problem is as a society we really don’t think about the huge environmental and health risks our obsessive usage of plastic does. If we are drinking tea on a regular basis, we definitely need to be searching for plastic-free tea bags and biodegradable tea bags

Why Organic for Teas?

If you don’t know by now, I am a big fan of consuming organic food and supplements whenever possible. Why? Well, the fact that we have to actually have a different labeling of “organic” in our food system should tell you everything you need to know. Tea leaves are very highly sprayed with pesticides due to their high vulnerability to pests and diseases.

Our food is sprayed with an unreal amount of pesticides and herbicides and our soil is so nutritionally depleted. If you need more information on how to support your gut from these environmental toxins in our food, check out my post on ION gut support. 

Organic by means is not perfect in any way either as there is so much cross-contamination from fields being sprayed. The USDA organic symbol means a product has to be:

1. 95% or more of organic content
2. Cannot be produced as a GMO or with GMO products

USDA organic is a hard certification to get for smaller farmers, so as long as that farmer uses organic practices I am happy to support them.

So, to sum it up, if you drink tea on the regular it is SO important to be drinking a quality tea free of plastic, bleach, chemical components, and pesticides.

Best, Better, and Good Options for plastic-free organic tea brands

There are a lot of tea brands on the market, and while there are a good amount of brands that go plastic-free, they unfortunately do not use organic tea which is a must in my opinion. For that reason, I will only be sharing brands that are both plastic-free and organic.

Best: Pique Tea

This brand is hands down the best plastic-free and organic tea brand on the market in my opinion. Pique Tea was founded by Simon Cheng, who grew up in the Far East immersed in tea and functional plants. When he moved to America, he found himself constantly sick and disconnected from the radiant health he once had. After hitting rock bottom with his health, he traveled the world befriending healers of all kinds that deeply connected him to the world of plant extracts and natural medicine. Pique tea was founded after this.

The Science behind Pique tea

Pique teas use their patented cold Extraction Technology which gently extracts and preserves the active compounds and phytonutrients that distills them into their most bioavailable and maximum effective form. 

Full Spectrom Isolate Synthesis:

Their science-based approach is that science and nature are inseparable in the world, the “yin and yang” of nutrition.

Exposures to environmental toxins these days are astronomically higher than our predecessors and our food and soil are only deteriorating. Ironically, we are not able to absorb the higher concentrations of active whole-food ingredients. 

“Our solution?

Full-Spectrum Isolate Synthesis [F-SIS]TM which synthesizes the most bioactive isolates with best-in-class, whole food sources to deliver payloads of essential nutrients into your cells for enhanced absorption.”

Sustainably Sourced

All Pique teas are USDA organic and triple toxin screened for pesticides, heavy metals, and molds. They are sourced all over the world from sustainable family farms that utilize organic farming from some of the best tea-producing countries and the United States.

Heavy Metals and Mold in Tea?

I know, it doesn’t unfortunately end with just plastics and pesticides in tea. Unfortunately, the soils can have high incidences of heavy metals that are naturally occurring. That is why where the tea is sourced is very critical. Mold and mycotoxins are also other problems in tea that can stem anywhere from the production process from improper drying, packaging, etc. to improper storage. Pique tests for all these things.

A Canadian study found that that Chinese oolong tea has the highest occurrence of heavy metals followed by green tea and then black tea.

Sustainable packaging

You will also notice that Pique does not use any tea bags. All of their teas are in crystallized powder form. You simply open the packet and pour the crystals into cold or hot water which is super cool. This prevents any need for plastic use. They are almost zero-waste, minus the package it comes in. The Environmental impact is low.

Pique tea is the best tea on the market in my opinion, the quality and sustainability cannot be beat. I absolutely love their Sungoddess Matcha and their Hibiscus Beauty Elixir.

Better plastic-free organic tea brand option

Organic Loose Leaf Tea

The next better option for tea consumption in my opinion would be loose-leaf tea. If you aren’t aware, this is simply just dried up tea leaves essentially that you pour into a steeper and steep in hot water. No tea bag needed. I love using an over the cup stainless steel steeper to do this. 

If you love the ritual of tea in the afternoon, this is one of the best ways to make your tea! There is something about pouring the tea leaves into the steeper, smelling the tea and steeping it to your perfection.

This is obviously a better option as there are no tea bags to steep in, so no potential for the leeching of plastics.

 Tao of Tea is found on Amazon which I like. They have USDA Organic and use small family farms and no middleman. 

Anthony’s Organic Tea is also a great item- USDA organic and non-irradiated. A lot of teas are radiated by gamma radiation to control post-harvest pathogens on the tea leaf.

Remember though, just because an item is USDA Organic, doesn’t mean that it is not free from heavy metals. I couldn’t find a loose-leaf brand that stated that they tested for heavy metals, so those might be harder to find. If you do choose loose leaf and you cannot find proof if they test for heavy metals, I wouldn’t choose any oolong, green, or black teas. 

All you need is your loose leaf tea of choice and a good plastic-free steeper! I like this one

Good options for plastic-free organic tea brands

Traditional Medicinals Herbal Tea

This is one of the best tea companies for herbal teas that still use tea bags. I love the overall mission of Traditional Medicials. They believe that “wellness is found in the wild.” Traditional Medicinals seeks plants that grow in healthy soil, certified organic plants, or organic plants. They foster relationships that work through programs such as Fair Trade. This brand incentivizes farmers to create high-quality products and pay fair wages.

They ensure all of their teas are of medicinal quality to ensure they deliver therapeutic results and maximum health benefits. They ensure this by testing for quality markers after they have been harvested or wild-collected.

This brand does test for heavy metals and microbial contaminants as each herb undergoes rigorous testing before being allowed to be packaged. They are USDA organic and plastic-free.

Traditional Medicinals has 7 herbalists on staff. That is pretty cool! The teas are formulated by herbalists with extensive knowledge of how the body systems work with each formulation.

The tea bags are plastic-free. They use compostable plant-based material tea bags made of wood pulp and manilla hemp. What I really love about Traditional Medicinals brand is that they have quality tea for any ailment. They have single teas such as chamomile and then they make tea blends such as  “Everyday Detox” and “Cup of Calm.” They also have a great tea for milk supply for nursing moms.

I love that you can get traditional Medicinals on Amazon, most grocery stores, and even Target! They are a very affordable option which I love.

Yogi Tea Brand

Another great tea bag brand is Yogi. They are a certified b corporation which is awesome. This means that transparency is given on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and materials. This brand focuses on Ayurveda which means “knowledge of life.” Ayurveda is based on the idea that disease is due to an imbalance or stress in a person’s body. The goal is to bring the body back into balance.

Yogi has over 40 tea blends made from ethically sourced botanicals. They are part of the Ethical Tea Partnership, which develops and implements programs across the globe to foster a more fair and sustainable tea industry.

While not every Yogi product is USDA-certified organic, Yogi ensures that all teas include organic ingredients.

They also test their products for heavy metals as they have stringent quality standards. They also use compostable tea bags and plastic-free bags just like Traditional Medicinals. Yogi uses the same manila hemp and wood pulp and their paper is oxygen bleached using a process that is all natural and free of chemicals and toxins.

Just like Traditional Medicinals, Yogi teas are very accessible and affordable. Yogi can be found on Amazon, the grocery store, and Target. Yogi also has single teas and blends just like Traditional Medicinals as well.

They make a fun Pumpkin Spice blend and a Vanilla peppermint blend that I love

Which teas do not have microplastics?

• Loose-leaf teas
• Traditional Medicinals
• Yogi
• Pique

What is the healthiest organic tea to drink?

In my opinion, Pique tea cannot be out beat for the healthiest organic and microplastic free tea!

What tea is plastic-free?

Any of the above-mentioned teas

Are Tazo tea plastic-free?

No, according to their twitter account from 2021 this is what was posted

“Our tea bags are made of hemp and a trace amount of plastic that is used to bind our tea bags together, but we’re actively committed to testing new, more sustainable materials. We’re working with sustainability consulting firm Pure Strategies to do so.”

I have not seen anything updated since.

The good news is that there are great plastic-free companies out there that utilize compostable packaging and paper tea bags. The only problem is that there are so many tea brands out there now that it can sometimes be hard to find good brands that care about things like pesticides and heavy metals. I hope this blog post helped out by giving you my top picks for the best plastic-free organic tea brands. Let me know if you try any!