Teabag with a small timer inside that begins vibrating after a minute or so, indicating that its time is up.

The cup holding the said teabag is then moved towards the bin and once it is within its predestined range it dives out the cup, plummeting to its death. How this is achieved is yet to be fathomed, and who gets to clean up tea spray will be answered in the next revision...
-- Supercruiser, Dec 18 2002

of course, we all know that suicidal lemmings are a misconception. http://darwinawards...ook/1chapter01.html
[po, Oct 04 2004]

This is so not what I pictured. I was looking forward to some nice lemming flavoured tea to go with my hedgehog flavoured crisps.
-- TBK, Dec 19 2002


So the teabags *magically* jump out of the cup after a predetermined amount of time. Where does this magic come from? Hogwarts School of Witchcraft perhaps?
-- linguist, Dec 19 2002


exactly how big would this teabag be? big enough to fit into a cup? and if it was a small microchip timer, that would be one hell of an expensive teabag.
-- threelittleduckswentoutoneday, Dec 19 2002


just like the greedy cobbler whose shoes always came back to the store in the night time.
-- Trodden, Dec 19 2002


Some teabags, particularly those poncy fruit-flavoured ones, have a string attached to them, with a label on the other end. Instead of the label, there could be a (clockwork?) mechanism which would reel in the string after a certain time. So instead of leaving the label just dangling over the rim of the cup onto your saucer, you put it in a teabag-disposal receptacle. When your two minutes (or whatever) has expired, the teabag appears to climb out of the cup and into the bin.
-- angel, Dec 19 2002


// Some teabags...... have a string attached to them, with a label on the other end //

This is true. Perhaps one could susbtitute a small rocket for the label ?

NB - only for use outdoors.

[UB], you are bad man ......
-- 8th of 7, Dec 20 2002


//Hah! Clockwork Orange Pekoe.//
Shirley this would prove counterproductive? Your teabag would be giving your cup a bit of the old "in-out, in-out."
-- Pharaoh Mobius, Dec 20 2002


I just have this image of all the little tea-bags following the first one in a long wavy line across the counter before they all jump into the bin, used and unused, just like Fantasia.
-- DrCurry, Dec 20 2002


what you bin sticking in your tea again, curry?
-- po, Dec 20 2002


The label could be formed like a small kite so that when one blows on the tea to cool it, the label takes flight and lifts out the bag.
-- FarmerJohn, Dec 20 2002


wish I had your lungs, farmer.
-- po, Dec 20 2002


You could have it so that via osmosis the tea bag releases all the tea by disolving into the water and having the bag inflate and float on out of the atmosphere, well until it runs out of steam...
-- Supercruiser, Dec 23 2002


[Nick@Nite] - simply mount a trash can on the ceiling.
-- benjamin, Jan 30 2004



random, halfbakery