In Assam, India, two entrepreneurs and childhood friends have created natural teabags made from leaves to replace traditional options made from plastic.
Upamanyu Borkakoty and Anshuman Bharali founded Wooláh to help commercialize their innovation, which they dubbed Truedips.
The bags are comprised of two compressed leaves shaped cylindrically and bound with cotton.
“While Truedip’s look is the same as a conventional teabag, the quality, aroma and taste set it apart. The unbroken tea leaves used as packaging material lessen the bitterness of the tea, and offer a fresh and flavorful cup,” Borkakoty tells The Better India.
In just four years of operation, Truedips is already a favorite among organic tea farmers in Assam, Meghalaya, and Darjeeling.
“We have received surprising feedback from customers, wherein they have brewed up to four cups per Truedip, with a little longer steeping time of around six to seven minutes for the third and fourth cup. This gives us immense confidence in the product, which was developed mainly to preserve leaves the way they were plucked, without any breakage, to deliver a pure and wholesome cup with a delicate finish,” Baharali adds.
Citing McGill University data, The Better India notes a single tea bag releases over 10 billion microplastic particles, potentially impacting human and environmental health.