The bitter truth of tea industry
For tea lovers, sipping a cup of tea is pure bliss, and why not? Tea is a perfect blend of taste, aroma, therapeutic qualities, and definitely hundreds of emotions. The love for tea has made it the second most widely consumed beverage worldwide, with over 1000 variants being sold today.
However, the leaves you brew are often loaded with pesticides, sourced from unfair trade practices. Hence, it’s important for you to choose the right type of tea.
What’s the problem with the tea industry?
We, as consumers, are the demand creators, and to fulfil these demands, if other things are getting exploited, then it is our duty to look for ways to deal with them. The same is with the tea industry; high demand has led to the rise of unethical and unsustainable practises to cultivate tea. Know about the bitter truth of tea industry-
Unfair tea practices
The workers employed in the tea industry work for large tea companies, which tend to prioritise money. These workers are being paid “poverty wages”. The daily wage of a tea garden worker in Assam is ₹232. And even after specifying such a meagre pay rate, the tea industry workers are still underpaid.
Environmental Destruction
Industrialization and the urge to meet demands have led to the overexploitation of resources. For high cultivation, tea production consumes a lot of energy, materials, and heavy machinery, which destroys the surrounding land in the process.
Harmful chemicals infused in tea
Harmful pesticides are used to grow tea. Though there has been a constant debate about the quantity of these chemicals being absorbed in tea, whether it be less or more, pesticide absorption, even in a small quantity, is harmful for human health.
Billion microplastics in each serving
Several tea brands use polypropylene in tea bags to prevent them from falling apart. These tea bags, when used for brewing at a high temperature, contaminate your cup of tea. A study published in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Environmental Science and Technology found that steeping a single plastic tea bag at brewing temperature releases about 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics into each cup.
But what’s the solution?
By being more conscious of our buying choices, we can majorly help to curb the unfair practices going on in the tea industry. Buying from the right brands that provide organic and sustainable tea is the only solution to deal with the current tea industry.
Did you know?
Loose tea has one tenth the carbon footprint of teabag tea.
And for the eco-conscious you, we are here to end your quest for sustainable and organic tea brands. Read here for the top Indian brands offering organic teas for your sustainable lifestyle.
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