Overpackaged: the tea edition
My friend Greg B, who is a photographer and designer, sent me some photos he’d taken of the most over-packaged tea I’ve ever seen. I put them in a little slideshow so I could share it with you – I didn’t want to be making the boggle-eyes face all by myself.
Like a lot of Go Greener readers, Greg loves tea and likes trying new types. But as he pointed out to me, tea only needs to be protected from air and light to keep it fresh. All this extra stuff isn’t there to help, it’s there to give the impression of a ‘luxury’ product.
What a waste of trees and oil.
5 Comments
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Goodness! I got a tea mug with strainer & lid for Mothers Day, so that I could use Aussie Grown or Fair Trade loose leaf teas, plus try to reduce the packaging of my tea even more. Also, I don’t drink very strong tea, so I can use the smaller amount of leaves I want each time… not sure if it is going to be of any impact, considering the purchase of a new mug and all it’s embodied energy! I did succumb to the glitzy glam of the tea store and bought two of their trendy loose leaf teas, but am now on the look out for Aussie grown (organic) loose leaf tea, or FT, if you know of any good ones?
When you buy small packages of lipton tea, they are just as bad! All wrapped in plastic, then individually wrapped in paper!
Nikki – I know, isn’t it criminal!
Dixiebelle – G Magazine did a comparison on takeaway cup vs ceramic mug, and found that although the mugs have high embodied energy & need cleaning, etc, they have such a long lifespan that it’s streets ahead of other options. And from that, I say it’s worth buying one you love in order to ensure you actually use it! If it’s ugly and gathering dust there’s no point.
I like Planet Organic chai, which is Fair Trade and sensibly packaged in minimalist teabags, and I was given a lovely loose-leaf organic, Fair Trade Earl Grey that I’m working my way through now. I believe Biome.com.au has a nice selection of eco-friendly teas too.
At least Elmstock are producing a good quality tea. Try the loose leaf Earl Grey they supply and buy it from them wholesale (much less packaging!). I’m certain the tea they send when you order it online is not as packaged as shown. Or drop them a line – I’m sure they would like to hear feedback!
Oh, I’m sure the quality of the product is fine. But it really is wasteful to wrap it in so much useless stuff: think of all the trees and oil that just get thrown in the bin because of too much wrapping!
But you’re right that they probably would appreciate some polite feedback, most companies don’t know about this stuff and rely on their customers tell them.