Each year, an estimated 4 million tons of tea is produced globally, but how much damage does our nation's favourite beverage do to the environment?
I don't have a photograph of a tea plantation - so enjoy a bit of jungle that hasn't been deforested for tea!
In comparison to other commercial crops, tea is actually considered to be one of the more sustainable beverages. When it is time to harvest, only the top 1-2 inches of the mature tea plant is picked, instead of uprooting the whole bush meaning an individual tea bush can be commercially viable for up to a century. However, like all monocultures, it doesn’t come without a price to the environment. Although tea farming is not the sole cause of deforestation, it is definitely a contributor. In order to establish plantations, vegetation mush be cleared and the soil fumigated with chemicals to get rid of soil borne pests and diseases. This is not only harmful to organisms in the soil, it can be damaging to the surrounding ecosystem and lead to soil erosion. Historically, tea production has had a very negative impact on those that pick and farm the crop, and many people have suffered in the tea manufacturing industry. Thankfully, organisations such as Fair Trade and increasing awareness has helped protect the livelihoods of those on the front line of the tea production.
So, why am I writing this article if tea farming isn’t all that bad? Well, unsurprisingly, the main environmental impacts of your cuppa is the packaging it probably came in. On average, teabag tea has a carbon footprint 10x greater than that of lose tea due to the use of carbon-intensive packaging. Traditionally, tea bags were made out of papers derived from a species of banana tree, meaning they were naturally biodegradable and would break down in the environment. However, in recent years some tea companies have switched to nylon and PET based tea bags. This has recently been brought to public attention due to the alarm that these micro plastics and chemicals may be leaching from the tea bags into the environment when disposed of, and even into our own bodies upon consumption.
Whether your concerns are for your health or the environment, there are a number of ways you can ensure you are enjoying the safest, most sustainable tea possible!
Scrap the bags
As previously mentioned, the main bulk of environmental damage comes from the bagging and packaging of the tea, so why not avoid the carbon-intensive bags all together and opt for lose leaf tea. Many brands including Twinning’s, Clippers and PG tips offer loose leaf tea alternatives. Not only are you skipping the plastic and reducing the packaging process, but it also tastes better! In general, the tea in tea bags is much lower quality and is known as tea ‘dust’, loose leaf offers a stronger, fuller taste.
Don’t have a tea pot to brew your tea before straining it? Not a problem. Welcome to re-usable tea bags! You can now buy cotton or metal ‘tea bags’ that allow you to brew your tea in your mug and once you’re done, empty it out, rinse, and re use! I picked up my reusable bag from a local zero waste shop for about £2, but if you don’t have a little eco shop near you, you can order organic cotton bags from £1.50 online.
My metal re-usable teabag
A consideration to make when buying loose leaf tea is there is still packaging involved (unless you have access to a refill shop for your tea leaves). The main issue I have encountered is that the leaves are held in a plastic bag within the box. PG Tips have avoided this extra packaging by just boxing up the leaves without the plastic, where as Pukka’s envelope wraps are recyclable and plastic-free.
Eco-friendly packaging and plastic free bags
If loose leaf tea isn’t for you, then the next best step is to ensure your tea comes in completely compostable or biodegradable bags that are plastic free. Thankfully, there is a big movement to push brands to move away from plastic based teabags, although just because a brand states it is biodegradable, don’t be fooled. Current EU standards allow for a certain amount of plastic content in a product when determining if it is biodegradable. Sadly, this means that ‘biodegradable’ tea bags are not always plastic-free and are consequently leaching out microplastics when put in your own compost.
Here are a few plastic-free, biodegradable brands to look out for your sustainable cuppa:
Pukka – both their envelope wrap, and box are recyclable and plastic free and their bags are completely compostable.
Tea Pigs – With biodegradable bags, a compostable outer wrap and FSC recyclable box, Tea Pig was the first tea brand to be awarded the Plastic-Free Trust mark.
PG Tips – Having announced they’re teabags will be 100% plastic free from 2019, they have replaced the polypropylene used to seal the tea bags with a plant-based material making them biodegradable.
Clippers – These tea bags also contain a plant-based sealant instead of polypropylene making them compostable, with Clippers being the worlds first brand to make all their tea bags fully biodegradable. They are now working to ensure all their packaging is recyclable.
Check out for certifications and organically grown tea
Along with considering the packaging that your tea comes in, its also good to look at other aspects of the product such as its certifications and whether it is organic.
Fair Trade is the one of the most well-known certification, ensuring the tea is grown with the environment and the farming communities in mind.
Source: https://www.fairtrade.org.uk/
Rainforest Alliance Certified is another important one to keep an eye out for, as tea is cultivated in the tropics where deforestation is a pressing issue. Liptons tea is from 100% Rainforest Alliance Certified sources, along with many other brands – just look out for the little green frog!
Soil Association Organic certification ensures plantations are taking care of the environment through organic farming. Buying organic tea allows the soil carbon pool in tea plantations to increase, helping to mitigate climate change and limits the inputs damaging of chemicals and fertilizers.
Be Energy wise
In terms of energy, boiling the kettle for your brew is the most energy consuming part of your tea. According to one study, around 70% of the total environmental impact results from the electricity used boiling the water. In order to save the amount of energy expended when you make your tea, always ensure you boil the minimum amount of water needed for your cuppa and avoid boiling the kettle more times than you need to. If you enjoy multiple cups of tea, perhaps fill up a tea pot and keep it warm with a cosy so you can top up your cup without having to heat water.
Compost!
Whether it is for your own garden compost collection or the food waste bin, its important to compost your tea if you can. This will reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and can be a good fertiliser for your plants. However, as always, its not always simple. If you are using bagged tea, you need to be careful with the wording of their biodegradable teabags. Some companies specify their products are only suitable for 'industrial composting', meaning they need to go in your food waste bin, not your home compost.
I hope this has provided you with a bit more information on how to select the most sustainable cuppa!
Enjoy relaxing with your book knowing you've made another successful sustainable swap!
Sources
https://www.pgtips.co.uk/sustainability.html