Gardeners should put tea bags on their plants but only if they do one thing first

Gardenenthusiasts are being advised to pop teabagsin their gardens this July - but only after tearing them open. Composting is a fantastic practice for your garden throughout the year, transforming kitchen waste like potato skins, carrot trimmings and banana peels into nutrient-rich compost that will supercharge your plants, resulting in larger, robust fruits and vegetables and healthier blooms.

You can kick off a compost heap anywhere in your garden with a basic plastic bin, though there are pricier and more advanced alternatives available, including wooden composters, multi-opening 'hot bins' and various other stylish solutions. If you're watching the pennies, a simple plastic box or an old bin with a lid will suffice if you just drill some airholes for the plant bacteria to aid decomposition.

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However, those tossing teabags into their compost heaps have been warned to rip open the bags first and pour the raw tea leaves directly in. This is due to the fact that many of the leading teabag brands on the market today actually contain plastic, reports the Express.

Numerous supermarket brands incorporate this in their teabags, which means they'll never decompose in your compost, leaving behind a plastic residue that could also taint your compost with leached plastic chemicals.

Even plant-based teabags, such as those used by Yorkshire Tea, should be sliced open, with the bag disposed of separately, not in the compost bin. Yorkshire Teahas clarified its stance on tea bags, stating: "PLA tea bags are sometimes called 'plastic free', but we've never used that label and WRAP, the people behind the UK Plastics Pact, also advise against it because plant-based plastics are still plastics."

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They offer a tip for eco-conscious consumers: "You can snip open your used tea bags, compost the tea inside at home, and put the bag itself in your refuse bin. If you don't want to do that, the alternative is to put your tea bag in your refuse bin."

Which?, the consumer advice magazine, sheds light on the issue: "Tea bags have traditionally been sealed with a plastic called polypropylene, which enables their edges to be heat sealed and stop them falling apart in hot water. Small amounts were used, but it prevented them being composted and, due to the enormous amount of tea bags used in the UK, it generated a large amount of plastic waste."

For those looking to reduce their environmental footprint, the UK Tea & Infusions Association suggests: "The advice from the UK Tea & Infusions Association is to rip open the bags before placing the used tea leaves on your compost heap and dispose of the teabag paper separately in your bin where it will go into landfill."