Sustainability

Good for You.
Good for the Forest.

Every decision we make — from how the leaf is grown to what the tea bag is made from — is guided by one principle: leave things better than we found them.

60 Kichwa families supported per order
0 Monocultures. Zero land clearing.
0% Plastic in our tea bags
100% Biodegradable bag material

No Plastic.
No Glue.
No Compromise.

Most tea bags contain more than tea. Conventional bags are heat-sealed with plastic polymers, bound with synthetic glue, and made from bleached paper — meaning microplastics enter your cup with every brew, and the bag itself cannot biodegrade cleanly. We think that's unacceptable.

No Microplastics

Our tea bags contain zero plastic. No heat-seal polymer lining, no synthetic coating. What goes into your cup is guayusa — nothing else.

No Glue

Conventional bags are crimped or glued shut with synthetic adhesives. Our bags use no glue — sealed by a method that keeps the bag intact without introducing any chemical residue.

Recycled Paper

The bag itself is made from recycled biodegradable paper. After brewing, the whole bag can go straight into your compost or food waste bin — it breaks down completely.

Fully Biodegradable

From the paper to the string to the tag — every part of the HOJA tea bag is designed to return to the earth. No landfill. No plastic residue. No guilt.

A Forest That
Stays Standing.

The Amazon rainforest is the most biodiverse ecosystem on earth — and it is disappearing. Agricultural expansion, cattle ranching, and monoculture farming are the leading causes. Guayusa, grown the way HOJA sources it, offers a genuine alternative.

01
Forest Gardens, Not Farms

HOJA's guayusa grows within natural forest gardens — diverse arrangements of native trees, plants, and species that mirror the structure of the surrounding jungle. The canopy stays intact. Wildlife corridors remain open. The soil is not depleted.

02
No Monocultures

Monoculture farming — planting a single crop across large areas of cleared land — strips biodiversity, degrades soil, and requires heavy pesticide use to maintain. Our guayusa grows alongside dozens of other species. No clearing, no single-crop dependency, no chemical inputs.

03
Making Conservation Economically Viable

The most powerful force protecting the Amazon is not regulation — it is economic incentive. When indigenous families can earn fair income from their forests without clearing them, preservation becomes the rational choice. Every HOJA purchase directly supports that model.

04
Order-Only Harvesting

Leaves are only picked when there is a confirmed order. Nothing is harvested speculatively. Between orders, the plants grow undisturbed, shed leaves naturally, and return nutrients to the forest floor — contributing to the ecosystem rather than extracting from it.

Why This Model Matters

Conventional agriculture
  • Land cleared for single-crop farming
  • Biodiversity lost to monocultures
  • Soil degraded over time
  • Heavy pesticide and fertiliser use
  • Indigenous communities displaced
  • Forest converted, not preserved
The HOJA model
  • Grown within existing forest canopy
  • Native biodiversity fully preserved
  • Soil health maintained naturally
  • No pesticides or chemical inputs
  • 60 families earn fair income from their land
  • Forest standing — and worth more that way

We are a small brand. We don't claim to be solving the Amazon crisis. But we believe that buying decisions compound — and that a product which actively supports a better model is worth choosing over one that doesn't. Every box is a small vote for the forest staying standing.

Do Something Good

Drink Better. Choose Better.

25 or 40 bags, one-time or subscribe. Free UK delivery on orders over £30.

Shop HOJA