Abaca

In Search of a Wisewoman

Yesterday I wrote a breakup letter. I have honestly given a lot of effort into making it work but I’m done. I wanted my reasons to not go unstated so I wrote the letter. This relationship was meaningful but it wasn’t working for me anymore and it’s because of compost. You see, I am a dedicated gardener and also a tea drinker. I have been dumped before by two companies that stopped selling loose leaf tea and that led to what would have given a long gone grandmother the vapours - teabags, teabags that went into my compost and teabags that riddled the lovely additive to my organic garden because they did not decompose. Picking them out was tedious as was another year of tearing the wretched things apart to dispose of them. To the internet. A study by McGill University found that the microplastic in teabags was retained. I may be old and reasonably well maintained but just as I will never have plastic surgery, I am not interested in having it ganging up internally.

The reply was instant and informative. The company said they use abaca in their teabags. Off to the internet again to find abaca is the strongest natural fibre also known as Manilla hemp. It is used for rope, twines, fishing lines and nets, coarse cloth for sacking, clothing, curtains, furniture, and apparently teabags. While I laud the company’s solution to paper teabags that failed, I have found an eco-friendly brand as there are not enough years left in my life to put up with anything or anyone who is high maintenance.

That’s the cat ringing his doorbell. His internal clock says it is 3 p.m. He comes in for “Tea Time” everyday. He replies in the affirmative asked if it is teatime and goes straight to his treat dish while the kettle boils for my reviving cuppa.