December equals lots of buying. Consumption, sadly, equals waste. Let’s admit it – there has been just way too much packaging and other waste that go to landfills. And there is something we can do about it!

Here are some ideas how to consume tea (and alike drinks) in a more sustainable way:

• Boil only as much water as you need at a time: you’ll save water and prevent limescale in your kettle
• Did you know that some loose teas are perfectly fine to be brewed several times? Oolong, pu-erh and green teas like sencha can be steeped and drank more than once
• Re-use tea tins for new teas you buy or as a vase/pot for your plants
• Buy less tea or don’t purchase new tea until you’re done with what you have
• Choose fair-trade, organic tea brands whenever possible
• Buy in-store instead of ordering online: a specialised tea store offers better quality and advice, you’ll get a chance to contribute to local small businesses and will not pay for that extra delivery packaging
• Drinking bagged tea? Always recycle that paper sachet a tea bag comes in
• Go get a tea strainer instead of paper infusers – here’s my list to buying various tea strainers. If you decide to use paper infusers to make your loose tea, purchase natural, unbleached ones
• Throwing out all used loose leaf tea? You can collect it to remove rust from your tools!

Let’s keep sipping that tea and caring for our environment! 🙂

Anybody got more tips and advice?