Tea Greenish: Upping My Game

I worked at Charleston County Recycling's Earthday Festival this past weekend. It was an awesome event; bigger and better and greener than last year. Personally, I have been trying to get greener, too, by trying to generate less non-biodegradable waste, especially plastic (even #1 and #2) and styrofoam as I go about my day-to-day life.

On the homefront, this means going back to using powdered detergent and dishwashing powder (these come in cardboard containers), avoiding purchasing and ordering foods that are served in styrofoam containers or completely avoiding restaurants that use styrofoam containers as well as generally eating out less. I have started looking for juices sold in glass bottles (Earthfare's 64 oz apple juice bottle is the bomb!) and refill them with homemade tea instead of buying soft drinks. I like the Pom teas because they come in a reusable glass. I am now using Pom glasses to carry water instead of plastic bottles. My husband has graciously acquiesed to my wishes to pass on plastic and is now getting groceries in paper bags (which actually hold more!).

I was interested to see the Slow Food folks at the Earth Day Fest. I want to get more into the Slow Foods thing myself; making time to prepare good food from fresh ingredients (I use a lot of canned vegies and beans at present). Slowing down my cooking to a snail's pace is looking like a prime candidate for the top of my green resolutions for next year. I am sure I will get no complaints from my family on that one!


Here's my recipe for ice tea made with bulk loose tea. I get mine at Earthfare, which has opened a "tea room" with all kinds of cool bulk teas (many are Fair Trade) as well as all kinds of boxed teas. (Earthfare graciously donated some bags for the St. Andrews' Green Skillz Prize Drawing, by the way.)

*I use a 64 oz (8 cup) Pyrex microwave-able mixing bowl with a handle and spout for this. (see picture above)
*I spoon in 6 heaping measuring teaspoons of loose tea (I use black tea like Assam, Darjeeling or Earl Grey) into the bowl. (Green or herbal tea my require a different quantity or brewing method).
*I fill the bowl with 6 cups of water and swirl the tea around washing the tea that is stuck on the sides of the bowl down into the water. I have found that it works better to put the tea in first but it will still work the other way around no problem, I just have to stir the tea a little more to disperse it.
*I nuke the Pyrex bowl of tea and water for 10 minutes on high (I have a wimpy microwave so a more powerful microwave may need less time).
*I let the tea sit in the microwave and steep for at least an hour or two (sometimes much longer if I forget about it!)
*I slowly strain the cooled tea into my 64 oz bottle using a funnel with a cup sized tea strainer (this is a stainless one, mine is plastic) sitting in it.
*I top off the bottle with water and put it in the fridge to cool.
*The used tea leaves go into the compost pile.

If I wanted to make it sweet, I would probably add sugar at the point when I added the tea leaves at the beginning because the sugar should dissolve into the tea when the mix is heated in the microwave. Some of my co-workers make sun tea which is even more Earth-friendly. I will have to experiment with that... maybe next year!

(picture of Taian Teahouse, one of the oldest in Japan - click to go to webpage)

Here is a link to a Japanese-American tea classic, The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura from Project Gutenberg.

South Carolina Tea Links

Tea in South Carolina from South Carolina Magazine

Tea in South Carolina from SCIWay

Andre Michaux Biography (planted the first tea in America in the Charleston area)

Middleton Place (site of first tea planting in America)

Pinehurst Tea Plantation (Tea Farm) in Summerville, SC

Charleston Tea Gardens (now owned by Bigelow, this tea farm produces American Classic Tea)

Book Connection: Ish by Peter Reynolds

Nice, upbeat kids book about being in transition. Very wabi-sabi.