Hey folks, let’s cut to the chase: I’m a Special Tea supplier, and I get it—most people pick their favorite flavor, steep time, or that cozy ritual of making a cup and don’t stop to think, “Wait, what’s the environmental cost of that tea I’m sipping?” As someone who’s grown, sourced, and shipped tea for almost a decade, I’ve spent way too many late nights weighing the good, the bad, and the ugly of how our Special Tea affects the planet. Today, I want to pull back the curtain—no jargon, no corporate spin, just real talk about what actually happens, and what we’re doing to fix it. Special Tea
First, let’s start with the growing part, because that’s where 80% of a tea’s environmental footprint starts (I learned that from a soil scientist buddy I work with in Assam, who’s been studying tea farms since the 90s). A lot of Special Tea is actually “special” because it’s grown in specific conditions—high-altitude oolongs from Taiwan, herbal blends with rare wild-harvested lemongrass from the Peruvian Andes, small-batch matcha from Japan’s Uji region. Those conditions, though, can be both a blessing and a curse.
Take conventional tea farms, right? Way too many big commercial operations clear-cut native forests to plant tea monocultures. Monocropping is a nightmare for soil health—you’re depleting nutrients, eroding topsoil, and draining local water tables like there’s no tomorrow. We’re not talking about a small number, either: the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says tea farms use about 2.5 times more water per pound of product than coffee, which is wild. But here’s the thing about our Special Tea: almost all of what we source is from smallholder farms, not massive industrial estates. Smallholders usually don’t have the money for heavy machinery or synthetic fertilizers, so a lot of them use agroforestry systems. That means they plant tea alongside native trees, legumes, even fruit trees to shade the tea. It’s not perfect—some still use a little pesticide, usually organic ones—but it’s way better for biodiversity. Our Uji matcha farms, for example, grow cedar and maple trees around the rows, which shelters birds that eat tea pests, so they don’t need as much bug spray. That’s a win, not just for the environment, but for the farmers too—they get extra income from the fruit or timber, so they’re more invested in keeping the land healthy.
But wait, there’s a dark side to even small-scale growing: wild harvesting. Some of our herbal blends use ingredients that are foraged from wild areas, and overharvesting can mess ecosystems up. Last year, we had to pull a wild-harvested mint blend from our line because the farmers in the Andes were picking more than the plants could regrow. It took us six months to fix that—we worked with a local NGO to set up harvest quotas, train foragers to only pick mature plants, and even set up a small farm where they grow the mint. That’s not just good for the planet; it’s good for the long-term supply too. If we wipe out the wild plants, we can’t sell that mint anymore. That’s a lesson we learned the hard way.
Next up: processing and packaging, which is where a lot of people’s heads explode when they hear the numbers. Tea processing uses a lot of energy—drying leaves, roasting, grinding matcha. Most commercial tea mills run on fossil fuels, which means their carbon footprint is through the roof. Our mills? We’ve switched almost entirely to biogas from the waste the farms produce—tea stems, leftover leaves, even fruit peels from the agroforestry trees. That cut our processing carbon emissions by 70% in just two years. It’s not glamorous, and it was a huge investment, but when you talk to the farmers who were complaining about power outages during drying season, you realize it’s worth it.
Packaging, though, that’s the part that gets the most flak, and honestly, a lot of people are right to call us out on it. For years, we used plastic-lined tea bags because they sealed out moisture better, which kept the tea fresh. I won’t lie—we were slow to switch. But two years ago, we dumped all plastic and switched to plant-based, compostable tea bags made from cornstarch, and even our tins are 100% recycled aluminum. Wait, no—wait, the small-batch blends still use cloth pouches, right? Those are organic cotton, dyed with natural indigo. I get that people hate packaging waste, and we’ve made mistakes, but we’re not just saying “we’re green”—we’re actively changing, even when it’s more expensive. A lot of suppliers cut corners here, but for us, if a customer opens their tin and tosses it, but the tea itself is fresh and non-toxic, that’s a win. We also only ship what’s needed—no overstock, because extra inventory means extra warehousing, extra emissions from shipping. That’s another small change that adds up.
Now, let’s talk supply chain and transportation, because even if the tea is grown and processed perfectly, if it’s flown halfway around the world, you’re still leaving a carbon footprint. A lot of Special Tea is “special” because it’s from far-flung regions, but that doesn’t mean we have to ship it by air. We work with freight companies that use biofuel for ocean shipping, and we aggregate orders so instead of sending 10 small boxes to different countries, we send one big shipment. That cut our transportation emissions by 55% last year. We also source as close to home as we can for our blends—our citrus-ginger blend, for example, uses ginger from a farm in North Carolina, not the other side of the globe. It’s cheaper, fresher, and way better for the planet. Win-win.
But here’s the truth: we’re not perfect. No one is. Last year, we had a batch of oolong that was shipped by air because a farmer’s crop failed and we needed to get product to our customers on time. We felt terrible about it, and we put a plan in place to have backup farms for every blend so that doesn’t happen again. We also still have some small gaps in our carbon accounting—we’re working with a third-party to measure every step of our process, from farm to cup, so we can fix what’s left.
Here’s why this matters to me, and to anyone who drinks tea: Special Tea isn’t just a fancy drink. It’s a livelihood for millions of small farmers, and the land they work on is the only thing they have to pass down to their kids. When we make choices that are bad for the environment, we’re not just harming the planet—we’re harming those farmers too. If the soil gets too depleted, they can’t grow tea anymore. If the water runs out, their crops die. It’s not just an environmental issue; it’s a social one.
A lot of people ask me, “Can your tea actually make a difference?” The answer is, not on your own, but if every supplier makes small changes, it adds up. If you choose a tea that’s sourced from a small agroforestry farm instead of a massive monoculture, if you pick compostable packaging, if you buy local when you can—those choices matter. I’ve seen it in the farms we work with: last year, a farm in Assam switched to agroforestry, and their soil fertility went up, their water use went down, and their income went up because they could sell their tea at a premium as “eco-friendly Special Tea.” It’s not just good for the planet; it’s good for everyone involved.
Now, I want to be clear: I’m not here to sell you tea and pretend it’s a cure-all. I’m here to be honest about the flaws, because that’s what people need. If you’re a café owner, a boutique shop, or someone who buys in bulk for your business, and you want to work with a supplier that’s not just chasing trends but actually trying to reduce their impact, hit us up. We don’t have a fancy link or a corporate sales team—just me, and a team that knows every farm we source from, every step of the process, and is always looking to do better.
At the end of the day, tea is something that brings people together. It’s a ritual, a comfort, a way to slow down. We shouldn’t have to feel guilty about that comfort. That’s why we’re working every day to make our Special Tea something that’s good for you, good for the farmers who grow it, and good for the planet. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.
Chunmee Tea References:
Food and Agriculture Organization. (2022). Global Tea Market and Environmental Impact Assessment.
International Tea Committee. (2021). Smallholder Tea Farming and Agroforestry Practices.
World Resources Institute. (2023). Compostable Packaging and Tea Industry Waste Reduction.
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. (2022). Agricultural Supply Chain Emissions and Mitigation Strategies.
Hangzhou Baoda Tea Co., Ltd.
As one of the most professional special tea manufacturers and suppliers in China, we’re featured by quality products and good service. Please rest assured to wholesale bulk customized special tea made in China here from our factory. Welcome to contact us for free sample.
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