I think I found it!

I think the reason why I was not happy with the tin/steel reusable container was that it would be too expensive, and to a lot of consumers who are looking at buying tea often, they would want something a little cheaper and more practical. I liked the idea of steel or tin because it is best for keeping the tea fresh, and I wanted to stay away from plastic to keep the loose leaf tea in because it is not as sustainable and excess packaging. That is why I could not decide to use sustainable paperboard (tambrite) because I would need extra packaging like plastic to keep it fresh inside. Also, tea in a traditional box is what all the tea packaging is today and I wanted mine to stand out.

However, today I found this article: http://www.sustainableisgood.com/blog/2008/10/guayakitea.html, which shows a brand new innovative tea packaging. It is revolutionary for loose leaf tea because it is made of a metalized cellulose film that is strong, flexible, yet also completely compostable and biodegradable. It does not use trees, and will completely break down because it uses only a minuscule amount of metal. It creates a different type of packaging shape to most tea that is in a box or tin. It also has the metallic element which keeps out moisture, odors, and holds in flavor and freshness. It seems to satisfy my search for something that will keep the tea fresh like tins, but also without excess plastics or wrappers using the way too traditional paper box. It was just posted on the second of October, and seems like it could be an up-and coming sustainable packaging solution for food/tea.