Some useful information, some anecdotes, some rantings, and some inspiration
from my quest to make my family and perhaps the world around me A Little Greener Every Day

My friend Alison Kerr graciously offered up a guest post for us today. With all the hustle and bustle happening during this season, taking ten minutes for a cup of tea is exactly what some of us are going to need.

If there’s one thing the Scots love it’s their tea. You can hardly imagine them getting through a day or a social interaction without “putting on the kettle” for “a wee cuppa”. But, strangely, I’ve not always been a tea drinker. And it was only a week or so ago that it first occured to me to pay any attention whatever to how the tea I put in my teapot was grown… don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner, considering that I think a lot about where my food comes from and how it’s grown.

Greening your tea drinking has got to be one of the easiest tasks you can set yourself. You can start on the shelves of your local supermarket. The Celestial Seasonings company support sustainable agriculture and fair trade and their teas are widely available. They make a large variety of teas, from green tea, to herb teas and white and black teas. They even have sample packs so you can find the teas you love.  Not quite so easy to find in stores, but organic, fair trade, kosher, and fueled by solar power are tea products from Guayaki. Their Yerba Mate chai tea is rainforest grown and supports reforestation. Did I mention that it’s delicious?

Switching to a greener cup of tea is simple – next time you’re shopping for tea read the packet to see what you’re drinking. Then check the shelves at your local stores to find organic, fair trade, sustainable, and ‘green’ teas. Nature will thank you!

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Alison Kerr is an American from Scotland who writes about connecting with nature and the outdoors through our homes, gardens, neighborhoods and communities. You can find Alison’s writing with tips, inspiration, and information at her blog Loving Nature’s Garden.

tea cup image: foxrosser