Friday, December 2, 2011

My Newest Baby Step

As I explained before, my family's goal to live lightly on the earth is in process.  My newest baby step is no more packaged black tea, herbs and spices. I take my little tea tin or odd containers to market and have them filled up. No more one-use little plastic baggies to throw away. 

The herb shop proprieter is so gracious about weighing and filling my containers.  I felt like my request was odd, so I told him why I'm doing it.

Why I'm doing it:
1.  packaging is unnecessary trash
2.  plastic makes us dependent on petroleum, which brings political, ethical, and environmental problems
3.  plastic is costly to recycle

10 comments:

Rebecca said...

You're always an inspiration. Let me know if you want my huge jar of loose green tea with mint.

Elaine said...

Great post. I have soooo many "baby steps" to take to reduce my environmental impact that it is daunting sometimes.

Your posts are always encouraging.

Sylvia said...

Thanks for the nudge along the path. I'm a heavy (tea!) drinker and I've often thought of the waste I produce, but haven't taken the steps to remedy it. Truth be told, I'm pretty picky about the tea I drink and I haven't found a good alternative. What's your favorite? I think freshness of bulk tea is an issue. It sometimes tastes good when I get it, then not so hot later on... oh what a lame pun!

Deanna Beth said...

It's a good idea. I had to refer back to your original post with the hankies. Ever since my visit to Rebecca's I have been thinking about the basket of hankies. I like to leave a small footprint on the earth, too, but honestly, I mostly think the guest hankies are charming.

Good luck with the tea and herbs.

BLD in MT said...

Baby steps are where its at!

Margo said...

Sylvia, my favorite tea is anything strong. On the herb shop's recommendation, I have Kenyan Black. For different, I also have Russian Caravan, which is smoked black tea. I also love oolong tea. I keep my tea tightly jarred in the dark cupboard - I haven't noticed that it gets stale.

Unknown said...

I buy my tea at the local tea house and bring in my own tins too : ) I think the owner likes that I put little homemade labels on the tins (we often get the same favorites).
Also, I always brew a pot of tea. It saves on the tea (quality not quantity) and I'll drink it iced if I don't drink it all hot ; )

kyleann33 said...

What a great idea. I was just thinking that I need to get back to drinking bulk tea instead of individually bagged tea. And I have the perfect tea tins, thanks for the reminder!

Sarah Barry said...

all good reasons. like it.

BLD in MT said...

Oooh, Kenyan Black. I've not tried that one and I too fall into the "anything strong" category. I've tried herbal tea because I drink so darn much of it I thought perhaps I should try to like a decaf tea, but....I just don't like herbal tea. I've tried (and still keep trying), but I just enjoy the strong stuff so much!