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Ethical Tea

I regard Ethical Trading as central to what we do here at All About Tea and it is my policy that all the tea we buy has been produced and traded with regard to the working conditions and welfare of the people that have grown and processed the tea.

All About Tea is a member of the Ethical Tea Partnership.

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Environmental Policy

I think it is easy to make small changes that make a big difference to how much damage we do to the planet. I further believe that it is our duty to make those changes, and to constantly be on the lookout for more opportunities to improve in this area.

There is always a balance to be struck. For example, packaging - if it doesn't do its job properly then the goods are damaged and further waste results. But here are some of the ways we try to do our bit:

 

• All our waste paper is recycled.
• We keep as much scrap paper as we need for our own internal use.
• As much as we need is shredded and used in packaging to save using foam "packing peanuts" where possible.
• Virtually all the cardboard boxes we use are second-hand. We collect them from nearby business.
• We do as much of our business online and electronically as possible to reduce how much paper we use.
• All sacks, bags etc that tea comes to us in are re-used several times. When they are no more use they are used as packing materials.
• We switch off all our PCs, boiler, machines, label printers, etc overnight to save electricity.
• Because we work from a big business centre, our courier visits a number of businesses at the same time, so he saves petrol too.
• Sometimes we make a dodgy batch of teabags that we prefer not to sell. To save wasting them, we give them away to deserving recipients (and use them in the office).
• Last but certainly not least, we are mindful of environmental standards in the tea gardens that we buy our tea from. These are monitored by the ETP (see above).

You can see that most of these measures also save us money! And that's just the way it should be. The way I see it, being environmentally friendly is just a matter of common sense and applying the old dictum "waste not want not".

Andrew Gadsden
Saviour of Tea

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