Packaging is a very important issue to me.

I package most of my samples in mid-size (about 4×4), biodegradable zipper pouches.  I searched high and low for these baggies, because I wanted something that was food-safe and environmentally responsible.  These pouches are labeled with computer printed labels that include the name of the tea, the name of the company that sells the tea, as well as recommended steeping parameters.  These pouches can be reused, but I know that a lot of people don’t always reuse their sample pouches, so that is why it was important to me to find biodegradable packaging.

For larger samples, I use food-safe, mylar packages.  These are not biodegradable, and so I try to limit my use of these.  But some of my sampler packages might be packaged in these mylar pouches.  Please reuse these pouches after they’re empty!

There are also a few teas that I have for sale are in sealed packages directly from the company from which they are sold.  In these cases, I had more than one of that particular type of tea, so I kept the packaging intact and sold the full, unopened package that I received from the company.

As for shipping materials:  For my Foodzie box samplers, well, I am a subscriber to the monthly Foodzie Tasting Box.  Every month, I receive a box that is approximately 11 x 7 x 2 filled that is filled with samplers from Foodzie.  These boxes are awesome, and I don’t like the idea of tossing the box into the recycle bin (although that would be a bit better than tossing it in the trash can), so my Foodzie box samplers are my way of reusing these very cool boxes.  I hope that when you order them, you can find a nifty use of these boxes, and either reuse or upcycle them!

For my other shipments, I use manilla envelopes that I had left-over from my tea business.  When my supply of these is depleted, I will look for similar sized envelopes that are made from recycled, post-consumer paper.

It is my goal to be as environmentally friendly with this venture as I can!

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