The Carbon Footprint of Tea

 

There’s more to tea than just leaves and water. The journey from farm to cup requires raw materials, packaging, transportation and water for steeping.

To get a full picture of our climate impact, Numi conducted a complete inventory of our greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions throughout our supply chain. We used this data to create the tea industry’s first product-level Carbon Footprint Label for consumers — a single number measured in kg CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) — that represents the emissions required to produce one bag of tea.

Carbon Footprint Methodology

 

Numi worked with Planet FWD, the leading carbon management platform for consumer brands, to estimate an average product carbon footprint for all our teas and botanical products. Each Carbon Footprint Label includes a footprint number and a breakdown of four emissions categories, representing the primary sources of GHGs throughout our supply chain.

The average carbon footprint of a cup of Numi tea, assuming a serving of 2.26g and 8oz of water, is of 0.038 kg CO2e. Here are the emissions sources included in our carbon footprint:

Ingredients: This includes all activities required to make our tea (i.e. raw materials, local transport and processing, milling, and blending). Because 85%+ of our ingredients are traceable to the farm level, we can create an individualized carbon footprint for each product. Where ingredient-level data is unavailable, we use an average based on product weight.

Packaging: We strive to eliminate excess packaging and use plant-based materials wherever possible. This category includes our cardboard tea boxes, which are made from 90% recycled paperboard, as well as the corrugated cardboard cases we use in shipping. It also includes our plant-based tea wrappers, which produce 67% lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional wrappers.¹

Transport: This includes downstream transportation and distribution (shipments from warehouse to customer locations or distribution centers), as well as any overhead energy consumption, capital goods and necessary activities for production of our teas and botanicals.

Boiling Water: We calculate the “use phase” of our products using a weighted average of three different methods of boiling water (electric kettle, microwave, and stovetop), assuming an 8oz serving.

 

How to Compare Carbon Footprints

While carbon footprint labels are still relatively new in the marketplace, many brands have pledged to start labeling their products. Our hope is that others follow our lead and commit to transparently sharing their carbon data. This will give consumers more context for this important number, and empower them to make better choices when it comes to environmental impact.