​6 MORE ways to REUSE your tea grounds/bags

Much of what we buy gets discarded as waste, especially food items.

When items end up in landfills or as litter polluting our environment, our planet and the global climate are harmed and resources wasted.

By finding alternative uses for products and extending their life, we can avoid mindless overconsumption and creating unnecessary waste.

We've talked about a few different ways to reuse your coffee and tea grounds before.

Whilst not everyone will relish the idea of using them to make more than one cup of tea, there are plenty of other things you can do, too.

Here's a few more ideas to try to get more from your cuppa:

1. Brew stronger tea

If you like your tea to have a stronger taste, save your used tea bags and add one to the next cup you brew. While a used bag doesn't pack the same punch as a fresh one, the twice-brewed leaves will still lend a bit more flavor to the second cup. This technique will work with any kind of tea, but is best with green or red varieties. White teas are generally too delicate to be used in this manner.

2. Soak Your Feet

Add used tea bags to warm water and soak your feet to neutralise foot odors, soften calluses, and nourish your skin.

3. Take a flavoured bath

Give your bath salts a run for their money by running the bath water over several used tea bags. You'll have yourself an aromatic soak in no time.

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4. Make flavoured rice

When cooking rice, add your used herbal tea bags to the water to allow a new, mild flavor to permeate throughout. Jasmine tea, one of my personal favorites, is a great choice for rice-flavouring.

5. Dye Paper and Cloth

Steep used tea bags and use the weak tea water to turn boring white paper into sepia-toned, antique parchment. Or use weak tea made from pre-brewed bags to dye white cloth in shades of warm brown or orange (more on natural dyeing here).

6. Feed Your Compost

We listed this last for a reason because the compost is where all of your tea bags should eventually end up, even if you have firstly reused them for any of the above. Add previously-brewed tea bags or grounds to your compost pile for a boost of nutrients. Just remember to remove the metal staple if your tea bags are the kind that have them. (Wondering what else you can compost? Check out our ultimate guide to composting).

[All images: Shutterstock]

Do you have any creative ideas for reusing tea bags that you'd like to share? Let us know in the comments!

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