Think about how you feel when sipping on a hot cup of tea on a cold day, if you're sick, or after a long workday: it's homey, warm, and comforting. Or if you’re drinking some cold boba tea (any Thai tea fans here?): it’s refreshing, cooling, and tasty. If you're an Avatar fan, you'll know tea is a beautifully balanced product, made from the four elements of water, earth, fire, and air.
Tea goes back thousands of years, originating back in ancient China, and is the second most consumed beverage in the world after water. According to the Tea Association of the USA (yes there is a group of wildly enthusiastic tea lovers), more than half the American population drinks tea every day, the equivalent of 1.42 million pounds.
At a Glance
Tea is beloved from cultures all around the world, who celebrate tea in their own ways. But over hundreds of years, a lot about tea has changed, and the increase in demand for tea has had negative impacts on the environment and labor practices. However, there are lots of groups and companies that are dedicated to producing the finest quality teas in a sustainable and ethical way.
Now let's keep those pinkies up and get right to it.
Environmental Cost
On average, tea has a lower carbon footprint compared to many of the other items we’ve talked about in our newsletter, ranging between 200 g CO2 per cup to -6g CO2 per cup. This roughly translates to mean if you were to drink one cup of tea a day, over the course of a year you’d contribute the same amount of gas emissions as a car driving 39 miles — almost negligible.
However, given the lack of research done that tracks the entire lifecycle of tea, this carbon footprint has a wide variance depending on how the tea was grown, processed, shipped, packed, and thrown away.
Tea bags, on the other hand, contribute greatly to the amount of microplastics in the ocean. 1 tea bag can release billions of microplastics in hot water (which are small enough to infiltrate your cells) and follow your drain into the ocean. The ocean has 5.25 trillion macro and micro particles, weighing 269,000 tons. Even though throwing out a couple tea bags seems negligible, there are millions of people drinking tea at any given time and thinking the same thing.
Human Cost
In 2019, more than 6.1 million metric tons of tea were produced, and the top 5 countries in which tea is produced are:
China (where it originated)
India (where it was introduced by the British to compete with Chinese production)
Kenya (same reason as India)
Sri Lanka (again, the same reason as India)
Turkey (people in Turkey drink the most tea of anyone on the planet)
With all this production, a lot of manual labor is required, and as we've seen with recent editions (denim and chocolate), workers in developing countries are exploited and treated inhumanely.
A study from Britain's Sheffield University exposed certification groups such as Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade as failing to stop exploitation. The study found little differences on tea farms that were certified vs. uncertified.
All workers live below the poverty line, face violence and beatings, and have wages withheld. Given that tea is the second most popular commodity after water (and with 70,000 cups being drank every second), human trafficking and violating labor rights are inevitable. Recruiters for farms prey on vulnerable populations, promising them jobs that will be able to sustain their families.
Workers have poor living conditions, little electricity or access to sanitary toilets, diseases of poverty are very widespread, and suffer from malnutrition. Employers give unbelievably high quotas that are difficult to fill, forcing workers to bring their children to help.
Ingredients to Watch Out For
The tea making process from start to finish is complex, and it's easy to take it for granted when we're sipping on our favorite flavors. Unfortunately like all consumer goods, there are ingredients to be aware of and watch out for.
Most teas are not washed before they are placed in tea bags, so there's a high chance that people are drinking pesticide residue along with the honey lemon tea.
Artificial flavoring and additives (such as GMOs): when using general terms like "artificial flavoring" or "natural flavor" you can't be sure what the manufacturer used to create the blend.
Food coloring: the large majority of food coloring is made from by-products of oil refining (petrochemicals)
Paper tea bags: paper bags are treated with a chemical called epichlorohydrin which is considered a potential carcinogen and is used by a pesticide. When epichlorohydrin comes in contact with water it breaks down into 3-MCPD, an organic chemical compound and carcinogen that has been linked to cancer in animals, infertility in male rats, and impaired immune function.
Pesticides: commonly found in non organic teas. Greenpeace evaluated 18 different brands and every single one of them contained at least 3 different pesticides.
Plastic tea bags: while tea bags are made from safe(?) plastics including food grade nylon or polyethylene terephthalate (PET), they break down and leave microplastic residue when sunk into hot water. People end up ingesting billions of microplastics per cup of tea. Although the long term effects are unknown, plastics do not belong in the human body.
Sweeteners (Artificial and Natural): artificial sweeteners are linked to glucose intolerance, changes to the gut microbiome, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.
The Future of Tea
In terms of consumption, tea has a bright future: it's an industry that is expected to reach $69B by 2027 and this growth is driven by the rise of "tea culture", where more people are learning about the health benefits and have more disposable incomes.
And in terms of production, there are some challenges that are impacting tea production, so severe that some teas are going "extinct":
Climate change: is threatening the quality, production, and existence of certain teas.
Lower nutrient content: with an increase of CO2 in the air, tea plants have lower levels of nutrients. Good tea has a balanced level of nutrients, and the quality and flavor of teas is disrupted.
More pests: with an increase in temperature, pests are migrating to areas that were once too cold. Pests damage the teas, resulting in a smaller harvest and unhealthier teas. Farmers are also forced to use pesticides.
Lower caffeine: CO2 also reduces the amount of caffeine, a natural pesticide, in the teas.
Assam, the region in India that produces more than half the country's teas and some of the world's finest black teas, is being battered by high temperatures, extreme weather, and unstable rainfall. The plantations are suffering and so is the quality of the tea.
However, with the rise of more intentional tea brands (which we'll get to in the next section) that focus on quality and ethical sourcing and consumer education, we think that the good qualiteas are here to stay and can outweigh the negative aspects of tea. Tea growth has also been accelerated by the pandemic, as households turned to herbal teas for immune support. And a win that we're highlighting is Tea Drops, one of the fastest growing DTC brands on Shopify, recently raised a $5M series A round. 🎉
Alternatives to Consider
Here is a list of teas that are produced ethically, organic, and fair trade. Many of them are B corps and if they use tea bags, they are made from quality ingredients.
Equal Exchange | ~4.50+ for 20 bags | A certified B corp and for profit worker cooperative that is owned equally by every employee. Hand picked and ethically sourced from India, Sri Lanka, and South Africa.
Numi | ~5.50+ for 18 bags | A certified B corp that produces hand picked tea in sustainable packaging.
Rishi Tea | ~$9.99 for 15 bags | Direct trade teas that offer traceability on where the teas come from, eco friendly packaging, and source directly from the origin.
Guayaki | ~$9.99 for 76 servings | Produces loose leaf Yerba Mate, a plant used to make medicine.
The Chai Box | ~$12+ for 2.5 oz | Hand picked from plantations in Kerala, no pesticides, or artificial flavors.
My Tea Drops | ~$14 for 25 tea drops | Donates a year's supply of clean water through the Thirst Project with every purchase, works closely with women farmers to produce "bath bomb" like ground leaf teas.
What You Can Do
Consider buying bagless teas: it's better for the environment and your body.
Read and research the ingredients on the teas that you purchase. Do you see any harmful ingredients used?
Look out for labels like "Organic", "Fair Trade", and "Ethically Sourced". Although that is a great step in deciding which tea to purchase, go the extra mile to research the brand and ask questions.
Educate your friends during teatime 🍵
Questions or comments on this piece? Suggestions on what we should cover next? Send us a note.