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Even though the smell of a fresh pot of coffee being brewed hits me when I walk into the station building on some mornings is very enticing, I stay true to my favorite morning, afternoon and evening beverage: tea.

And this is rather interesting … whether you like sweet or unsweet tea there's some great reuses for the tea bags you used to brew it!

My Mom taught me this one: Feed Your Garden—You can re-brew the used bags in a bucket of water and use the resulting weak tea to water plants. This actually protects them from fungal infections. You can also just open up used tea bags and sprinkle the damp leaves around the base of the plants – that's more my style! This will fertilize the soil and deter garden pests like mice. But the easiest thing to do is just remove the staple, if it has one, and toss it in your compost pile. Note to self: start a compost pile 🙂

Tea Bags Can Be Used As Carpet Cleaner— Store used tea bags in the refrigerator in a cup of water to keep them from spoiling until you have enough to cover the surface you want to clean. Then open the used tea bags and let all of the leaves dry until they are still slightly damp, but no longer soaking wet. Sprinkle the loose damp leaves over the carpet and leave them to dry completely. Once they are totally dry, vacuum them up. They not only absorb the dirt they get rid of odors too!

Deodorize—I have yet to try this but believe me, I will! Toss a few tea bags in your kitchen trash bin or put a few loose leaves in the litter box. You can also put a few drops of peppermint oil on the tea bag and placeit in cabinets to keep pest like spiders, ants and small rodents away. Oh yeah – I need to do this one!

It may sound kind of strange but you can bath in old teabags! Run your bath with a tea bags hanging from the faucet or just toss a few in with the bath water. As tea leaves contain antioxidants, bathing in them is great for your skin. Use a fragrant tea like orange blossom or chamomile and you’ll get a bit of aromatherapy too.

Theresa Lucas