Do your own experiment to see if your teabags really are compostable

If you make your own compost at home, you can participate in a citizen science project that investigates whether products are as biodegradable as they claim

By Layal Liverpool

HOW biodegradable is your teabag? Are plastics labelled as biodegradable really what they claim to be? You can have a go at answering these questions and more by conducting your own home composting experiment.

If you live in the UK, you can submit your findings via the Big Compost Experiment citizen science project and contribute directly to waste innovation research. Start by choosing some items labelled as biodegradable or compostable. You might find inspiration from the project’s ongoing Teabag Trials, which encourage volunteers to test out the supposedly environmentally friendly teabags that are now on offer from various brands.

Before …