How many times did you enjoy your favorite cup of tea and after that just binned the leafs?

I learned that with loose leaf tea that is not what you do, most of the teas can hold perfectly a second and even many more steeps giving you the pleasure of sipping that delicious drink over and over again.

Now the price doesn’t seem high anymore, does it?

1. You may had heard the proper way to store tea is in a hermetic container, far from spices and such as it absorbs the aroma and you will end up with a cup of tea you will not enjoy. Well, the other face of this coin is… it can absorb bad odors

After you are done using the leaves and that 4th steeping isn’t really what you were looking for (by the way, don’t throw it away, I will tell you why in a minute) just put the leaves on a plate or tray to dry properly in order to avoid mold, and you can gather them in a cheesecloth or muslin bag and put the bag in a place you want to deodorize (fridge, wardrobe, drawer or even shoes). Of course you can even add a drop of natural oil if you want.

2. Do you remember I was saying that if the last steep isn’t what you were looking for you shouldn’t throw it? Your plants will appreciate the tea once it is cold. Of course, no sweeteners for them and make sure the tea is cold but even if the taste isn’t quite nice after all the steeping it still has enough nutrients for your plants to enjoy

3. Cleaning, Yes, you read correctly, CLEANING.

You will say that tea is the reason you have to clean in the first place because it can leave some stains but give this a go:

– dirty dishes? You know that grease you should try to remove before washing them? Well, my kids still need to get that cleared, but you can use used loose leaf tea for that. If you are squeamish you could put the leaves on a paper filter but that would defeat the idea of being sustainable

– cutting board after cutting meat or fish? Remember the absorbing the odors part I mentioned before? I would put damp leaves on the cutting board for few minutes before scrubbing it clean. It should help

– Windows. Yes, don’t look at the screen like that, windows!

I used this with Assam or Irish breakfast but should work with any black tea

Just brew a cup of the tea, let it cool down completely and after that dip a corner of kitchen cloth in it and wipe it over the surface you want to clean. It will look a bit streaky to begin with but when it dries it is streak free.

It works great on windows, mirrors and glass

4. Skin care

You will say: yes but it already does that when you drink the tea that is packed with the antioxidants and catechins.

And you are perfectly right, but why not go a little further and limit the amount of money we spend on cosmetics? After all, many skincare brands advertise adding tea to their products, so why not make your own tea mask, tonic for skin or scrub?

I recommend using green tea, especially Sencha or white loose leaf tea: China Pai Mu Tan.

You can soak facial pads with tea and put them on tired eyelids or even add tea to your tub for a bath. This would work better if you use fresh loose leaf tea, as if you brew your tea until there’s no more flavor left it means you already consumed most of the antioxidants from the leaves.

5. Gardening and composting

Well, I might have started with this one I guess.

– I already mentioned watering the plants with the tea. For this you can actually boil the loose leaf tea to extract everything that is left but remember the cooling part, you don’t want to ruin your plants

– Mulching. You can create tea mulches for moisture and temperature regulation. This also prevent weeds coming up. Dry the leaves (this step is very important in order not to have them molding) and collect them in a large jar before mulching to create 3-4 inch layer of tea leaves on the soil. Here it doesn’t matter what loose leaf tea you collect, but i do recommend organic ones with no added flavors

– Composting. If there are still loose leaf tea left, don’t forget to compost them. The trick is to have a balanced mix of greens and browns (usually 1:3 ratio) to minimize the odor.

-green (high nitrogen): tea leaves, most kitchen scraps, fresh grass clippings or fresh picked weeds, used coffee grounds

– brown (low nitrogen): dried grass, fall leaves, wood products, paper