Ya-Ya’s Tea-Board

Today is Blog Action Day!
A day on which an estimated 14,000 blogs worldwide will feature a post on our most valuable, but also most vulnerable asset: the environment! The aim of this effort is to raise awareness and get everyone talking, to highlight problems and offer ways to help making a difference.
This is the world we leave to our children, we need to start making changes NOW!

I’ll use this opportunity to finally write a post I had long planned to write but never gotten around to do so: What to do with your tea leaves after you’ve used them for making tea. Tea leaves are amazing and far too precious to end up in the nearest landfill. I’ll share with you a few uses for infused tea leaves and hopefully inspire you to try some of them.

1. Use as incense: Use either a Japanese tea-leaf-burner (cha kouro) or an old skillet on the stove with low heat to roast the used leaves and get them smoking slightly. Not only does this smoke have a nice aroma, it is also very effective in absorbing and eliminating bad odours in your house.
2. Soothe sunburned skin: Wrap used, damp tea leaves in a cloth and press or gently rub on sunburned skin. The tannic acid in tea has a cooling effect and helps repair the skin.
3. Clean windows and mirrors: Wrap used, damp tealeaves in a cloth and wipe glass surfaces clean; use this instead of chemical glass cleaner. Buff the glass after the treatment with a soft cloth to remove the thin film of tea. This works like a spell, try it out!
4. Prevent rust in cast-iron kitchenware: Rub your cast-iron pans, pots or teapots (tetsubin) with used tea leaves. The antioxidants in tea react with iron and form a protective film that prevents the formation of rust.
5. Keep your cupboards dry: Tea leaves are very effective in absorbing excess moisture. If you place dried used tea leaves in an open bowl and keep it in a damp cupboard, the leaves help to reduce the dampness. Make sure to replace/dry the leaves from time to time.
6. Deodorize your refrigerator: Tea leaves are extremely efficient in absorbing odours (that’s why you should keep high quality tea in an air-tight container). Put used tea leaves in a bag and place it in your refrigerator to get rid of bad odours. (NOTE: You can use this method also to deodorize smelly shoes!)
7. Improve your compost: Used tea leaves are a great addition to any compost. They create a very rich soil and help to improve the smell of partially working compost piles.
8. Deodorize your cutting boards and kitchen utensils: Rub used tea leaves on cutting boards and knives after using them for onions or other strongly smelling foods. The tea leaves deodorize them and help to sterilize them through the antibacterial properties of camellia sinensis.
9. Enjoy a relaxing tea bath: stuff a small gauze bag with used tea leaves and put into the bathtub. The tea helps to sterilize your skin and acts as a tonic. You could also create an exotic bubble bath by adding some nice soap and baking soda to your bath and let the leaves float freely (it actually looks kinda like in a fancy commercial if you have tons of used leaves from our Rose Oolong left over…).
10. Use as fertilizer: Tea leaves are full of minerals and brewing extracts only a small percentage of these rich resources. Place used tea leaves around acid-loving plants (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, etc. love it, so do rhododendrons, azaleas and many more) or dig into the soil around the roots.
11. Make a tea pillow: Stuff used tea leaves into a pillowcase. Granted, you’ll have to save the leaves of your tea for a little while until you have enough to fill a pillowcase, but the Chinese belief that tea-stuffed pillows soothe headaches, relieve insomnia and reduce blood pressure. The aroma of the tea leaves also acts as a natural sleep enhancer.
12. Wipe your baby’s bottom: Wrap used, damp tea leaves in a soft cloth and soak in tea. The leaves are antibacterial and help to sterilize your baby’s bottom eliminating odours at the same time.

Note that many of the uses mentioned above are based on traditional practices from Japan (a country which even invented an incense burner for tea leaves!), but the methods can be adapted for all kinds of tea: white, green, oolong, black and pu-erh tea! You can even use teabags, just remember to remove the staple before putting them into your compost!

Do you have any uses or ideas that I haven’t mentioned? I would love to hear about them, so please leave a comment.

I hope you’ll read a few blog posts relating to the environment today and start thinking what difference YOU can make!

Tags [ recycling | blog action day | tea | compost | used tea leaves | alternative cleaning ]