# Can I compost teabags? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 12, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-compost-teabags/181305 "2003-06-12T11:58:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-compost-teabags/181305/1 "2003-06-12T11:58:34Z")
Having moved house, I have many mysterious and exciting new things to deal with. Among these is the compost heap. Now, I know the basic principles behind this (vegetable and garden waste good, inorganics, meat and nuclear waste bad), but I have a simple question: do teabags rot down? The reason I ask is that I suspect modern teabags may be made out of some kind of plastic material (they appear to be “welded” at the ends), which I imagine isn’t biodegradable. [This (rather brief) thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=64984&highlight=teabags) seems to suggest that, too. Any gardeners out there that can give me the yay or nay? Being a Brit, I get through a lot of teabags… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-compost-teabags/181305/2 "2003-06-12T12:00:36Z")
Mine seem to compost down OK - I think the material is just some kind of paper; the ‘welding’ is done with glue, I think. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-compost-teabags/181305/3 "2003-06-12T12:09:30Z")
I’ve been thinking about this for a few weeks myself. At the moment I just dump them in the bin. According to what I’ve learned on the SDMB, paper is a good “brown” constituent of compost heaps. And tealeaves are organic too. So if teabags are indeed made of paper, they’re a good constituent. So all we have to do is find out what teabags are made of. I just called Lyon’s helpline, but it was disconnected. Am now emailing Tetley’s. Will get back to you when I’ve more information. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-compost-teabags/181305/4 "2003-06-12T12:43:47Z")
Go ahead and compost 'em. Never had any problem with my teabags when I had a heap. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-compost-teabags/181305/5 "2003-06-12T12:48:44Z")
Yeah, they’re fine. If you get the kind where the “strings” are plastic, I pull those off, otherwise you’re good. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-compost-teabags/181305/6 "2003-06-12T13:13:11Z")
My grandmother swears by them, and has me save all of my tea bags so she can put them around the plants in her garden. She must be on to something, because her vegetables are HUGE. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2003, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-compost-teabags/181305/7 "2003-06-12T13:23:49Z")
Maybe you could just snip 'em and throw the bag away and toss the leafy part into the heap.