Tea leaves are amazing and far too precious to end up in the nearest landfill. We’ll share with you a few uses for infused tea leaves and hopefully inspire you to try some of them.

1. Use as incense: Use either a Japanese tea-leaf-burner (cha kouro) or an old skillet on the stove with low heat to roast the used leaves and get them smoking slightly. Not only does this smoke have a nice aroma, it is also very effective in absorbing and eliminating bad odours in your house.
2. Soothe sunburned skin: Wrap used, damp tea leaves in a cloth and press or gently rub on sunburned skin. The tannic acid in tea has a cooling effect and helps repair the skin.
3. Clean windows and mirrors: Wrap used, damp tealeaves in a cloth and wipe glass surfaces clean; use this instead of chemical glass cleaner. Buff the glass after the treatment with a soft cloth to remove the thin film of tea.This works like a spell, try it out!
4. Prevent rust in cast-iron kitchenware: Rub your cast-iron pans, pots or teapots (tetsubin) with used tea leaves. The antioxidants in tea react with iron and form a protective film that prevents the formation of rust.
5. Deodorize your refrigerator: Tea leaves are extremely efficient in absorbing odours (that’s why you should keep high quality tea in an air-tight container). Put used tea leaves in a bag and place it in your refrigerator to get rid of bad odours. (NOTE: You can use this method also to deodorize smelly shoes!)
6. Improve your compost: Used tea leaves are a great addition to any compost. They create a very rich soil and help to improve the smell of partially working compost piles.
7. Deodorize your cutting boardsand kitchen utensils: Rub used tea leaves on cutting boards and knives after using them for onions or other strongly smelling foods. The tea leaves deodorize them and help to sterilize them through the antibacterial properties of camellia sinensis.
8. Enjoy a relaxing tea bath: stuff a small gauze bag with used tea leaves and put into the bathtub. The tea helps to sterilize your skin and acts as a tonic. You could also create an exotic bubble bath by adding some nice soap and baking soda to your bath and let the leaves float freely
9. Use as fertilizer: Tea leaves are full of minerals and brewing extracts only a small percentage of these rich resources. Place used tea leaves around acid-loving plants (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, etc. love it, so do rhododendrons, azaleas and many more) or dig into the soil around the roots.

Note that many of the uses mentioned above are based on traditional practices from Japan (a country which even invented an incense burner for tea leaves!), but the methods can be adapted for all kinds of tea: white, green, oolong, black and pu-erh tea! You can even use teabags, just remember to remove the staple before putting them into your compost!

Do you have any uses or ideas that we haven’t mentioned? We would love to hear about them, so please leave a comment.

* Source: Ya Ya's Tea Board