Yorkshire Tea

I received a lovely hand written card from the lovely Chloe Darcy, from Customer Services at Taylors of Harrogate last week.  She kindly responded to my letter requesting that they start to phase out the plastic wrapping from their boxes of tea, explaining that they 'are required to pack [their] boxes with cellophane because they act as a protection against foreign bodies, [reducing] the risk of other products on a shop shelf tainting the flavour of the tea and damaging the tea bags themselves.'  There were some other very kind and friendly pleasantries in the letter and a sample box of 10 Yorkshire Tea bags, wrapped in plastic!!!  All the same I was very pleased to receive such a lovely and gentle hand written reply. 

My quest for plastic free tea bags does not stop there, I shall not be defeated at the last hurdle, I shall get my Yorkshire Tea without the plastic, even if I have to go up there and buy it from them at the factory door myself.  On a more sensible note it would be worth confirming whether the cellophane they use is actually made from cellulose or from petrochemicals.  If made from cellulose then I dont believe that there is a problem as it should biodegrade.  If however it is made from petrochemicals, I SHALL find an alternative.  I have been informed by a colleague at work that Celestial Seasonings tea bags are individually wrapped in a wax coated pocket.  Can anybody confirm this?  I am going to purchase a pack, have a little goosey gander and if it is true, will contact them to see what their wax coating is made of, as there is a chance that it could be petrochemical based.  Should the wax be made out of a biodegradable substance I think that Taylors of Harrogate may be finding a solution to their plastic packaging in the post.