Used tea leaves as fertilizer!

 

India is the 2nd largest producer( 857,000 tons ) of tea in the world. Around 80% of the total tea produced in India is consumed by the domestic population. Imagine the amount of tea leaves dumped every day. Wouldn't it be great if you could use this waste for somethiing benefitial? A win-win secret for both, you and the earth will be revealed  as you read on!

You can use tea leaves directly as a fertilizer for your plants. Tea has nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium(NPK) the same contents a store-bought fertilizer will have.

Steps to use :

1.  Wash and dry the tea leaves in the sieve itself, before adding them to a container. It is better to sprinkle dried leaves since it is easier to estimate the amount you are adding and it does not attract flies.
2. You can add 4-5 teaspoons to each plant once in 10 days. Please take care not to overdose your plant. This may seem really less, but I saved tea leaves from 24 cups of tea and I could only add it to 3 plants.
3.  Turn the topsoil a bit, add your tea leaves and cover it with soil again.
4.  Don't expect any life-changing sudden improvement. But it will enrich the soil, act as a pesticide, and prevent weeds.
5. You can use black, milk, or green tea for this. It is always better to add sugar to your tea after you sieve the leaves.

Not throwing tea leaves can also save you from investing in more plastic packaged products!

1. Tea leaves and the absorbed milk are rich in antioxidants and various other nutrients. Mix it with some sugar to make it more granular. ( You can go crazy with oil, honey, yogurt- whatever you like in a srub). Exfoliating your skin with it, once in a while can completely eliminate the need to buy body/face scrubs.
2. Brew a weak tea with the used tea leaves(black/green) before throwing them in your plant/storage container. This weak tea acts as an excellent toner to nourish your skin!

Making this simple change in your daily life will relieve your dustbin of kilos of used tea leaves every week. Try it out and let me know what you think :)