Reader Lilly asked a great question in the comments of our post about home made sugar scrub:

I am starting my homemade tea business and I can't seem to come up with any good packaging idea. I don't want to use fancy dandy packaging. I want something simple, homemade but beautiful. Any suggestions?

After a bit of pondering, here's what I came up with. If you guys have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them!

Tea is a tricky thing to package. According to The Fragrant Leaf, "the enemies of tea are air, light, moisture and odors from other foods." That means we're looking for some sort of air-tight container that isn't clear. That's a bummer, because my first thought was that repurposed glass jars would be a pretty way to show off the tea and be useful long after you'd brewed that last pot!

This might not be ideal, but these tea canisters are made from recycled paper. They're made in China, though, and the outer paper doesn't appear to be recycled, just the lining.

If you're feeling crafty, glass jars might actually be a doable storage idea. The only problem with glass is that it lets in light, right? To combat the light problem, you could use glass paint to coat the whole outside and keep those pesky UV rays out. This might be a bit time-consuming, but it's probably your best bet for an eco-friendly tea packaging solution. You could also try wrapping the glass with recycled paper, but this wouldn't keep out all of the light, just a good portion of it. Maybe a combination of glass paint and recycled paper (maybe printed with your logo?) would be the best solution here.

Have any of you found eco-friendly solutions for storing loose tea? Share away in the comments!

Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by debcll