Indian Tea Fields

MatchaAlternatives.com Goes Carbon Positive - Our Teashop's Journey Part 2: The Big Reveal

Posted by Matcha Alternatives


We are now officially a carbon positive tea shop!

Our last post was our official announcement, an overview of what we’ve done, and why we’ve done it. So today, we get into the detail, we’re going to cover:

 

  • Our Carbon Footprint Calculations (and margins of error)
  • The Final Numbers: Our Teashop’s Carbon Footprint in Tons of CO2
  • The Big Offset: How many trees are we planting / tons of carbon offsetting?
  • Where are we Planting? Who have we partnered with?
  • Greenwashing and Trust (We’re not perfect & our solution to that)
  • Note from the Founders

  

 This is part two, first read Our Teashop’s Journey Part 1: How We Got Here. In that first half we talk all about Why are carbon footprints important to us? Why have we taken this teashop Carbon Positive? How are we taking this teashop Carbon Positive? Criticisms of Offsetting, and/or Offsetting with Tree Planting. Why aren’t we going Carbon Neutral / Net Carbon Zero? And what are the steps required for a small business to go Carbon Positive?

~

For everyone who has read Part 1 already, let’s get down and dirty with the nitty gritty math:

 

    Vientiene and Elizabeth Taeed River Valley (600px)

     

    Our Carbon Footprint Calculations

    Our calculations covered:

     

    • 100%+ of our time working on building this shop from 2018, and officially launched in 2019 i.e and all of our emissions from simply being alive while working on the tea shop
    • 100%+ of further “life” time running and growing the business, mostly which occurred in France, India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Malaysia, but we used a UK calculator to overestimate our lives in these countries
    • 100%+ of our undergraduate intern trainees lives during their time with us
    • 100%+ of our flight emissions from visiting 30+ countries “@TravellingforTeasince 2016, including local transport. 160,000km / 100,000 miles flown. This was for our own enjoyment to explore the planet as well as to explore the world of tea, learning a whole lot as we went
    • 100%+ of the excess CO2e effect from our flights, incorporating the effect of carbon emissions from planes at high altitude which have an increased effect on global warming (radiative forcing)
    • 100%+ of our tea-making footprint since 2016
    • 100%+ of our digital footprint (laptops, smartphones, and server use for both our teashop but also our travel and teablog TravellingforTea.com)
    • 100%+ of the carbon footprint of all the tea we have ever sold
    • We did NOT count the trees planted by our customers due to their purchases of bundles (every bundle plants one tree)
    • How much carbon does a tree offset, which we calculated/research to be approximately 1 ton (American ton) over its lifetime, for the trees we are funding

     

    In short, we have calculated everything that was even remotely related to tea or creating/running this business, from November 2016 to November 2021, which was two years prior to the launch of the teashop to now.

    As an example, with the respected calculator we used from Atmosfair for our flights, the carbon equivalent of this high-altitude effect referenced above, on top of the fuel burn, was a greater impact than the fuel itself! This is the sort of carbon footprint which a minimal calculation will conveniently leave out, and indicates the lengths, conservativeness and detail we went to find our own figures.

    We must be open with our large carbon footprint in those four years of flying, where we traveled the circumference of the globe four times over. This is part of the reason we needed to measure fully, and offset excessively.

     

    Black Looseleaf Tea
    (Ethically sourced from the Ethical Tea Partnership)

    Margins

    We have also researched, calculated and considered margins of error in every one of the above lines, so ensure we (more than!) offset our carbon footprint now and moving forward. These include:

    • 50% increase in flight air miles, to cover local transportation in any one country. Flights CO2e footprint far exceed many other transport methods. We hugely overcompensated for local transport or error in calculation by adding another 50,000 miles / 80,000km of flying to offset
    • Added a 25% tree failure margin, where we multipled all final figures by 1.333... to assume a quarter of trees planted will fail (1.333 * 0.75 survival rate = 1.000)
    • Added a 50% increase in carbon for all figures - tea sold, digital footprint, etc.
    • Used the maximum 143 grams/cup of tea from the most robust research on tea footprint, rather than the typical levels of multiple researchers in the field which was between 17 and 21grams per cup
    • By hugely overestimating our footprint, the number of trees being planted means annually we will be carbon positive on an ongoing basis also (not just the past) even when we use the most conservative calculations for the number of pounds CO2 absorbed per tree per year

      And now for the moment we’ve all been waiting for, that we’ve been working towards for two years!

       

      The Final Numbers: Our Teashop’s Carbon Footprint

      Our carbon emissions from when we first began traveling to research tea in November 2016, to founding this tea shop (including development, running and all tea sold), to present day in November 2021 (4 years) is….

       

        Carbon Neutrality incl. Excessive Margins Minimum for Carbon Neutrality
      World Travel + Tea Research 118.122 14.564
      Life in Business Development & Running 37.785 25.190
      Digital Footprint 5.520 1.485
      Tea Footprint (all sales & personal consumption) 19.623 1.555
      Our Carbon Footprint
      Total Tons to Offset / Trees to Plants
      181.050 42.793

        

       You can see the effect of our many multiple excess margins and maximum accuracy in calculations with the 4x difference in the minimum versus maximum number of tons we must offset. You see we’re being good! So many a greenwashing business could have fairly legitimately (on the surface anyway) offset the minimum and call themselves Carbon Neutral.

       

      Misty Forest

       

      The Big Offset: How many trees are we planting / tons of carbon are we offsetting?

      Now that we know our carbon footprint from 2016 to 2021, we can calculate two figures:

       

      1. The optimistic estimate (i.e. bare minimum) required to be Carbon Zero/Neutral
      2. The conservative estimate required to be Carbon Zero/Neutral

       

       We now know what amount of carbon we must offset to be Carbon Neutral: 181.05 tons of CO2

       

       To be carbon positive, we of course need to exceed this. But by how much? This is where we enter uncharted territory (how positive is positive?), and so we decided to double the conservative Carbon Neutral figure, to overwhelmingly compensate for emissions and move into properly carbon negative territory. When we double our carbon footprint we get:

       

      362.1 tons to be confidently carbon positive double our maximum carbon footprint

       

      This year the Arbor Day Foundation, one of the tree-planting organizations we work with, is running a fundraising initiative to match donations 1:1. So, we decided to double our carbon positive calculation yet again.

      When we double again the above we get 724.2 tons / trees. Incorporating a (very conservative) 25% tree mortality rate, this mean we have a goal to offset / plant:

       

      965.57 tons / trees to be excessively carbon positive
      Quadruple the number tons to offset using our worst case numbers

       

      Prior to finally going carbon positive we planted 275 trees, offsetting 275 tons of CO2 over their lifetime. Taking out the trees we planted on our customers’ behalf of 85 trees, that leaves 190 trees we directly funded.

      Applying the same (very conservative) 25% tree mortality rate, this reduces to 142.5 trees or tons of CO2 offset over their lifetime.

      We would like to offset 968.57 tons, so that means an additional 823.07 tons. We then went ahead and funded 824 trees at a 1:1 tons to trees ratio (from our research), adding to our original 190 trees directly funded.

      So!

       

      Worse-case carbon footprint: 181 tons

      We have funded 1014 trees, offsetting up to 1014 tons of CO2

      We are overwhelmingly Carbon Positive!

       

      Including our customers, together we have planted even more - 1099 trees! Should all or most of these trees survive, then we will offset more than FIVE TIMES our carbon footprint from our world travels and development, research, launch, running, of this teashop.

      For reference, the average American has a carbon footprint of 16 tons/year. The average Brit has a carbon footprint of 11 tons/year. So 1014 tons would offset 63.4 years of an typical American.

       

      ~

      Support this teashop by choosing us for your next tea purchase!

       

      To celebrate with us, spend $30 and you will get a free 1oz bag of Elegant English Breakfast Black Tea, plus we will plant a tree! 

      ~

       

      One Tree Planted Charity

       

      Where are we Planting? Who have we partnered with?

      We have partnered with the Arbor Day Foundation (#TeamTrees included), and OneTreePlanted. We have done a lot of research, looking for organizations that are transparent, ethical, stable and plant the right tree species in the right areas. (Sounds simple, but it wasn’t: Dozens of organizations didn’t make the cut!). This was essential to ensure we took care of the valid questions concerning poor tree planting.

      We have primarily supported reforestation projects on the eastern coast of the USA, as this is where most of our connections and customers are. With OneTreePlanted, for example, we have directly supported tree planting in the Appalachian Mountains in an on-going project.

      Here is OneTreePlanted’s description of the project, as it’s more eloquent than us!:

       

      “Appalachia is one of America's most beautiful and renowned regions, stretching from the state of New York, all the way down to Alabama and Georgia. Home to the namesake Appalachian Trail, more than 150 tree species can be found in the region, making it one of the most diverse ecological regions in North America. Unfortunately, the resource wealth of the region also means much of the forest has been degraded by mining and timber operations. Over the years, an estimated 83% of habitat has been lost. However, with an ever-growing tourism industry environmentally conscious organizations and businesses are stepping up to return the region to its former glory.

      This project is a 5-year, multi-state effort. Our planting partners are looking to restore forests across all Appalachian states. The first phase we're participating in is in Kentucky. Supporting this project will return formerly unproductive mining, logging, and agricultural land to balance. Planting trees here will also benefit nearby communities as hydrological function will be improved, thus providing them with better quality water. This project also creates meaningful jobs in communities suffering from high rates of poverty and unemployment. Our planting partners are also implementing conservation practices to ensure the forests are maintained sustainably for many more years to come. A variety of trees will be planted in the affected area based on the needs of specific planting sites. Species include various types of oak, yellow poplar, American chestnut and hazelnut, silky dogwood, and persimmon.”

      Source: OneTreePlanted: Projects

       

      You see how many things tree planting can benefit? Pretty cool we think!

      Other projects include the Arbor Day Foundation’s Chesapeake Bay work, planting more than 60,000 trees in 2021 to project the estuary from polluted agricultural and urban runoff, using the trees to “filter and absorb pollution, stabilize stream banks, provide habitat for animals, and help regulate water temperatures” as well as absorb CO2 and store it as carbon. 
      This excites in particular as it is well within Elizabeth’s area of expertise from when she used to organise natural filtration, stabilization, and improved habitats for rivers, as part of larger scale catchment management projects in the UK.

       

       

      Appalachia hillside planting with One Tree Planted
       Source: OneTreePlanted planting project in Appalachia

      Greenwashing and Trust

      This process is also about trust. Why should you trust us and that we haven’t greenwashed, and have truly gone carbon positive?

      Well, we have done our best, we were traveling two years before we started this business, and two years during its development and launch. Even though there are a myriad of corners we could have cut to reduce our official carbon footprint, such as ignoring our years researching tea (with all those flights), or CO2e in the development of the business prior to launch, we did not.

      Can you believe us? Overall, we:

       

      1. Can share our calculations
      2. Have planted over 1000 trees
      3. Excess margins or error
      4. Excess with trees planted, to overwhelm our footprint by the sheer volume of trees (more on this below)
      5. Have environmental degrees that demonstrate being environmentally minded and concerned about the development of the world, especially to those countries and regions most affected by climate change
      6. Have been committed to this and it has been part of our brand since the beginning (not a gimmick)
      7. Are an online tea shop, so we don’t need the resources of WalMart to become carbon positive (i.e. it’s believable we can do this!)

       

      What we are doing, including any imperfections, is ultimately a well-intentioned, good thing, with all major organizations and climate scientists saying offsetting including tree planting is part of the solution. It also makes intuitive sense that removing excessive carbon we have already emitted is a good thing.

      We hope you agree and will encourage and join us in expanding, planting more trees, offsetting more carbon, and reducing CO2 production in more and more ways!

      To read more check out our blog: What is Greenwashing? Examples of Greenwashing & 'How to Spot It' Free Downloadables

      (P.S. To see some silly greenwashing, Google “Budweiser greenwashing” for some recent examples!)

       

      Path to a Cliff Edge

       

      We’re Not Perfect & Our Solution

      We would like to share, at this point, that whilst we do have environmental, economics and business analytics backgrounds, of course we do not have the resources of multinationals doing the same calculations. 

      We have been thorough nevertheless, and ultimately, we were exceptionally conservative with which numbers to choose and margins or error. This means that whatever small, or large, mistakes we may have made in the work over the last two years that led to this announcement, the CO2e reduction and offsetting we have undertaken is so so excessive, so much larger than our actual footprint in the most extreme of calculations, that we can effectively guarantee we would indeed be carbon positive.

      If our careful calculations are off by even a factor of 100%, or even 200%, we will still be a carbon positive tea shop. This was one of our goals that we have achieved.

      So if we were going to reduce and over-offset by so much, why calculate anything in the first place? Well, we wanted the avoidance of doubt, we wanted to be scientific, and naturally we still needed to complete all the calculations as best as possible to ensure we are in the right area before multiplying my additional margins.

       

      ~

      We have funded the offsetting of between 4 to 25 times our total carbon emissions according to our maximum and minimum calculations respectively

      ~

       

      As time goes on no doubt we will improve our processes, measurements and final more research. Subscribe to our tea science blog to stay tuned!

      Finally, please remember this is a blog post format for this journey, so naturally it does not contain all the research we have undertaken but the results and summary methodologies. More blogs will come.

       

      Vientiene Photographing a Lake

       

      What does the future hold? Our plans for 2022 and beyond

      Yay, now we’re Carbon Positive we can curl up and eat bon-bons, right? Tempting, but WRONG! We are delighted to have come this far, a big culmination of two years of work and study, however it’s only part of the journey.

      In 2022 we are hoping to become fully plastic positive and water positive, as well as start working with tea shops, restaurants, cafes and tea drinkers (of course!) to help them calculate their carbon footprints and, with luck, go carbon positive themselves (we have already designed tea menus for multiple restaurants).

      We also want to help our customers offset themselves, by offsetting with us. This may involve some significant re-branding of this shop as we develop and grow, too. We will keep you posted on this blog of course!

      To read more about our precious water resources, check our our blog Where Does Your Tea Water Come From? 3 Water Rights Case Studies in North America

      We want to be as transparent as possible about our work and calculations, and help others become Carbon Positive as well. On this note, if you would like to go carbon positive yourself, get in touch!

       

      This week's featured tea bundles include...OUR NEW BLACK TEAS!

       

        Blend@Home Black Chai Tea Kit (Strong Black Tea + 5 Chai Blends)

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      Breakfast Teas Trio (3 Black Teas Bundle)

      Breakfast Teas Trio (3 Black Teas Bundle)

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      Includes: Elegant English Breakfast, Sturdy Scottish Breakfast, Intense Irish Breakfast Black Tea

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      ~

      It's that time of year again:

      How to Give Tea for the Holidays: Our Guide to Ethical Gifting

      ~

      A handy reminder before the holidays:

      Best Anti-Inflammatory Teas & Herbals + An Intro to Inflammation

       

       

      Founders Vientiene & Elizabeth Taeed

      Note from the Founders...

      WHEW. That was a lot of work! Since we launched this tea shop in 2019, we have wanted to be as ethical and environmentally friendly as possible. Tea is such a wonderful thing that brings so much joy and relaxation, it shouldn’t cause pain and suffering on the way. That’s why all our teas are sourced from members of the Ethical Tea Partnership, and why we have always had tree planting as a central focus in our shop.

      We have both learned so much about tea and climate change over the last two years, and it feels amazing to finally complete this research and confidently know that we are carbon positive. We are indebted to the wonderful undergraduates we’ve worked with on this project: thank you Luce Brandt, Cayley Evans, Lauren Hirth and Anna Silverstein for your dedication to this project! And a big thank you to all of our lovely readers, for your words of encouragement and support as we’ve worked away on this!

        

      About the Authors & Founders

      Elizabeth Ta'eed MSc is a teahead from Vermont and one of the co-founders of MatchaAlternatives.com. She has a BA in Geology & Economics from Mount Holyoke College and an MSc in Aquatic Resource Management from King’s College London. She has worked as a business and environmental consultant for the past decade. Her tea love grew and grew from years through regular visits to Japan, drinking tea while living in London, teaching tea classes in Madrid, and then traveling for four years with Vientiene to research tea for TravellingforTea.com and this shop and blog.

      Vientiene Ta’eed is a British teahead and the other co-founder of MatchaAlternatives.com. He has a BSc in Economics from University College London, with a focus on development and environmental economics. He has worked in business consulting and e-mentoring solutions. Her love of tea started with the classic Earl Grey at home, growing up in the UK. Parents from India and Iran meant for more exciting teas on special occasions with boiled milk chais and Persian tea, earl grey for fragrance, ceylon for color, cardamom, cloves, and fresh mint!

      This has taken a lot of work and a lot of time to get here. Naturally we as a team have spent countless hours on how carbon is counted, calculated, indirect production, etc. etc. and so at this point would like to express our particular thanks, again, to Luce Brandt for her incredible hard work in producing one of our largest pieces with us - a research report on the processing and production map of tea, for a full understanding of our carbon footprint including all 10 toes!

       

      MatchaAlternatives.com

       

      Explore our Tea Science & Lifestyle blog | Subscribe to the MA Blog to save 15%!

       

       

      with FREE US shipping!



       
      Disclaimer
      All of the information regarding the herbs, botanicals, minerals, vitamins, etc., is information drawn from traditional use data or academic research and should be regarded as such. If you, the reader, has a health or medical concern, please consult your healthcare professional. The information found here is not meant to diagnose, treat, prescribe or cure and has not been evaluated by the FDA. This information is for educational purposes only. 
       

       

      Read more about tea, emissions & the environment in our Going Carbon Positive series

      ➔ Part 1: Global Warming and Tea Primer

      ➔ Part 2: Making Your Tea Greener: Environmental impact of teabags, coffee, packaging & more

      ➔ Part 3: Reducing Your Online Business’ Carbon Footprint: Key Factors 

      ➔ Part 4: What are the Main Carbon Offsetting Methods? Top Ways to Capture Carbon & What to Look For

      ➔ Part 5: What is Greenwashing? Examples of Greenwashing & 'How to Spot It' Free Downloadables

      ➔ Part 6: Investigating Carbon Offsetting: What to Look for in the Tea Industry & Beyond

      ➔ Part 7: Where Does Your Tea Water Come From? 3 Water Rights Case Studies in North America

       ➔ Part 8: MatchaAlternatives.com Goes Carbon Positive - Our Teashop’s Journey Part 1: How We Got Here.

       

      References & Further Reading About All Things Carbon Positivity

      Here are a few of our sources, but this is far from exhaustive. For example, we have 6.5 pages of bibliography in our internal carbon report which is not included here.

      About Carbon Positivity, Neutrality & Climate Change:

      Carbon Positive Australia. Carbon Positive: Moving Beyond Carbon Neutral. Carbon Positive Australia. https://carbonpositiveaustralia.org.au/learn/about-carbon/carbon-neutral-to-carbon-positive/

      Climate Neutral, 2021. Climate Neutral Certified Pricing. https://www.climateneutral.org/pricing

      Ekos. Zero Carbon & Climate Positive Certification. https://ekos.co.nz/zero-carbon-climate-positive

      Carbon Neutral, 2021. The CarbonNeutral Protocol. Certified Carbon Neutral Global Standard.  https://www.carbonneutral.com/the-carbonneutral-protocol/technical-specifications-and-guidance/step-3-target-1/3-3-climate-or-carbon-or-net-positive

      Carbon Neutral, 2021. How. Certified Carbon Neutral Global Standard. https://carbonneutral.com/how

      Climate Neutral, 2021. Frequently Asked Questions. Certified Carbon Neutral Global Standard. https://www.climateneutral.org/faq

      Go Climate Positive, 2021. Show your commitment to the climate. https://go-positive.co.uk/get-carbon-certificate 

      Go Climate Positive, 2021. Save more carbon than you create to Go Climate Positive.  https://go-positive.co.uk/go-climate-positive

      Go Climate Positive, 2021. Membership Pricing. https://go-positive.co.uk/pricing

      IPCC, 2021. SPECIAL REPORT Global Warming of 1.5 ºC. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Accessed 01/09/21 https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ A useful website from the IPCC to explore the issues “An IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways”

      Business Ambition for 1.5C, Join the Campaign for Our Only Future, Accessed 01/09/21 https://www.unglobalcompact.org/take-action/events/climate-action-summit-2019/business-ambition

      Climate Forcing, Energy from the Sun Interacts with Land, Water, and Air, Climate.gov, Accessed 01/09/21 https://www.climate.gov/maps-data/climate-data-primer/predicting-climate/climate-forcing 

      The Nature Conservancy, 2021. Calculate Your Carbon Footprint. https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/carbon-footprint-calculator/ - Average American’s CO2 footprint is 16 tons

      Carbon Independent, 2021. UK average footprint. CarbonIndependent.org  https://www.carbonindependent.org/23.html - Average UK resident’s CO2 footprint is 11 tons (10 tonnes)

      CNG, 2021. What Exactly Is 1 Tonne of CO2? Climate Neutral Group. https://www.climateneutralgroup.com/en/news/what-exactly-is-1-tonne-of-co2/ 

      RS, RAE, 2018. Greenhouse gas removal. Royal Society; Royal Academy of Engineering. ISBN: 978-1-78252-349-9. https://royalsociety.org/-/media/policy/projects/greenhouse-gas-removal/royal-society-greenhouse-gas-removal-report-2018.pdf 

      RS, RAE, 2018. Greenhouse gas removal: Summary. Royal Society; Royal Academy of Engineering. https://royalsociety.org/-/media/policy/projects/greenhouse-gas-removal/royal-society-greenhouse-gas-removal-executive-summary-2018.pdf 

      Ocean Cleanup, 2021. We Aim To Clean Up 90% Of Floating Ocean Plastic Pollution. The Ocean Cleanup. https://theoceancleanup.com/donate/ 

       

      Travel, Flight & Digital Footprints

      BBC, 2019. Climate change: Should you fly, drive or take the train? BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-49349566 

      Vidal, J, 2019. Offsetting carbon emissions: ‘It has proved a minefield’ The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/aug/02/offsetting-carbon-emissions-how-to-travel-options 

      ICAO, 2016. ICAO Carbon Emissions Calculator. https://www.icao.int/environmental-protection/Carbonoffset/Pages/default.aspx 

      Atmosfair, 2021. On CO₂ calculation: How is the atmosfair offsetting contribution calculated? Atmosfair. https://www.atmosfair.de/en/faqs/on_co2_calculation/

      Atmosfair, 2016. Atmosfair Flight Emissions Calculator: Documentation of the Method and Data. Astmosfair. https://www.atmosfair.de/wp-content/uploads/atmosfair-flight-emissions-calculator-englisch-1.pdf 

      Barret, Didier. (2020). Estimating, monitoring and minimizing the travel footprint associated with the development of the Athena X-ray Integral Field Unit: An on-line travel footprint calculator released to the science community. Experimental Astronomy. 49. 10.1007/s10686-020-09659-8. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-atmosfair-carbon-emission-calculator-provides-two-estimates-for-the-flight-emission_fig6_342164485 

      Wikipedia, 2021. Atmosfair. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosfair

      Atmosfair, 2021. Calculate Flight Emissions. https://www.atmosfair.de/en/offset/flight/ 

      EPA, 2021. Greenhouse Gas Emissions from a Typical Passenger Vehicle. United States Environmental Protection Agency. https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle 

      Bailey, J; Cohen, A, 2021. That “Dreaded” Commute Is Actually Good for Your Health. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/05/that-dreaded-commute-is-actually-good-for-your-health 

      Jones, N, 2015. How to stop data centres from gobbling up the world’s electricity. Nature.com https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06610-y 

      ClimateCare, 2021. Infographic: The Carbon Footprint of the Internet. ClimateCare. https://www.climatecare.org/resources/news/infographic-carbon-footprint-internet/ 

      WWF, 2021. How Big Is Your Environmental Footprint? World Wildlife Foundation. https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/ 

      Tree carbon storage:

      Stephenson, N., Das, A., Condit, R. et al. Rate of tree carbon accumulation increases continuously with tree size. Nature 507, 90–93 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12914 https://www.nature.com/articles/nature12914 

      Source: Loehle, C. (1988). "Tree life history strategies: the role of defenses." Canadian Journal of Forest Research 18(2): 209-222. https://bigtree.cnre.vt.edu/lifespan.html 

      EIONET, 2012. Trees help tackle climate change. European Environment Information and Observation Network (Eionet) https://www.eea.europa.eu/articles/forests-health-and-climate-change/key-facts/trees-help-tackle-climate-change 

      Bra, K, 2021. Does planting trees actually fight climate change? Sustainable Travel International. https://sustainabletravel.org/does-planting-trees-fight-climate-change/ 

      Ovo Energy, 2020. Trees: nature's carbon-eating machines. Ovo Energy. https://www.ovoenergy.com/blog/green/trees-natures-carbon-eating-machines

       

      Collins, P. 2021. How much CO2 does a tree absorb? Selectra. https://climate.selectra.com/en/news/co2-tree

      EcoTree, 2021. How much CO2 does a tree absorb? EcoTree. https://ecotree.green/en/how-much-co2-does-a-tree-absorb

      Marshall, M, 2020. Planting trees doesn’t always help with climate change. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200521-planting-trees-doesnt-always-help-with-climate-change 

      Unger, N, 2014. Op-Ed: To Save the Planet, Don’t Plant Trees. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/20/opinion/to-save-the-planet-dont-plant-trees.html 

      Fairs, M, 2021. Planting trees "doesn't make any sense" in the fight against climate change due to permanence concerns, say experts. De Zeen. https://www.dezeen.com/2021/07/05/carbon-climate-change-trees-afforestation/

       

      Carbon footprint of tea:

      Doublet, G.; Jungbluth, N. Life Cycle Assessment of Drinking Darjeeling Tea. In Conventional and Organic Darjeeling Tea; ESU-services Ltd. Uster: Schaffhausen, Switzerland, 2010; Available online: http://www.avnir.org/documentation/bdd/sg/doublet-2010-LCA-Darjeeling-tea-1.0.pdf 

      Ruby, F., 2009. Écolo, votre tasse de thé? PasseportSanté.net https://www.passeportsante.net/fr/Actualites/Nouvelles/Fiche.aspx?doc=bilan-carbone-ecolo-votre-tasse-de-the-2009092590

      Wijeratne, Thushari. (2018). Assessing and reducing the environmental impact of tea cultivation. 10.19103/AS.2017.0036.20. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323353887_Assessing_and_reducing_the_environmental_impact_of_tea_cultivation 

      Berners-Lee, M &  Clark, D, 2010. What's the carbon footprint of ... a cup of tea or coffee? The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-blog/2010/jun/17/carbon-footprint-of-tea-coffee

      Berners-Lee, M, 2010. How Bad are Bananas?: The Carbon Footprint of Everything. Green Profile; Main edition (13 May 2010). ISBN-13:‎ 978-1846688911

      Steenbergs, 2015. What’s the carbon footprint of your cuppa? Steenburgs. https://steenbergs.co.uk/blog/whats-the-carbon-footprint-of-your-cuppa

      Sauer, J.L., 2009. Tea’s Carbon Footprint. Samovar. https://www.samovartea.com/teas-carbon-footprint/

      FSA, 2020. Milk added to tea and coffee measures program. Food Standards Australia. https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/science/monitoringnutrients/ausnut/foodmeasures/Pages/2011-Dash-and-splash-measures-program.aspx

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