Tea: An Earth Angel

Tea is the second most widely consumed beverage after water in the world and that is a good thing because it looks like it might also be the second most planet friendly, as far as carbon emissions are concerned. "On average, a loose tea which you drink at a tea lounge has about 20g CO2 per cup. As a reference point, the carbon footprint of a cup of beer is 374g, a can of Coca Cola is 129g and a cup of cow’s milk is about 225g. As such, loose tea is a far better choice environmentally than any of these."

These are the findings of Nigel Melican, a tea technologist at Teacraft, in his recently concluded in-depth study on tea's carbon footprint "from Asian tea farm to American teapot". He found that, "if tea is well made, if we look at the supply chain properly, if we make some adjustments, we can actually get tea to be carbon neutral...some tea in some countries we could get to be carbon negative."

But, HOW carbon negative? Could tea be a contestant for Richard Branson and Al Gore's Virgin Earth Challenge, a competition offering $25 million US "to encourage a viable technology which will result in the net removal of anthropogenic, atmospheric greenhouse gases each year for at least ten years without countervailing harmful effects".

Perhaps Nigel Melican, a tea technologist, is just the kind of technologist Branson is looking for?

Photo: Organic and Biodynamic tea grows in Sri Lanka's central tea growing region, near Haputele. Sarah Scarborough, 2005

What Melican found is that tea's actual environmental impact has much to do with the tea drinker. Here are a few ways that you can reduce the impact of your cup:

1. Reuse your tea/ tea bag. Did you know that most teas can be steeped more than once? Over 85% of the caffeine content comes out of the tea leaf within the first 20 seconds of steeping, so your second and third cup of tea will be lower in or caffeine-free. Whites, greens and Oolongs are especially well-suited to be re-steeped. Some tightly- rolled Oolongs make a fuller flavored second, third and fourth cup and some can be steeped up to 8 times.

2. Compost your tea. Our planet could use more organic matter and so could your garden. Throw it in your compost pile or in a house plant. Tea leaves also help soak up odors, give it a try.

3. Reuse/ Recycle your packaging.

4. Cook with gas. According to Melican, gas cooking is much easier on the earth than electric. It is a more natural way to cook, and so more enjoyable. The end result from a gas stove tends to be better too.