What is More Environmentally Friendly – Tea or Coffee?

The alarm goes off. It’s 6:30am. You know it’s a Monday. What do you do? You can either go back to bed, phone in sick and surf Facebook, or you get up…helping you through this process of the morning news if your daily vice. Be it tea or coffee, I’m pretty sure you’ve got one of those lovely hot drinks by your side. But have you ever considered which is the more environmentally friendly? I bet you haven’t!

Coffee is the best thing in the world…or is it?

Let’s start with tea…

The production of tea has a high environmental impact through the conversion of habitat.  This is especially harmful as the land used to cultivate tea is often located in areas of high biodiversity.  These areas tend to be remote and rugged and the conversion of such land has a high environmental cost in more ways than one.  For example, if the natural habitat is removed then a large number of flora and fauna will disappear, with a number of species present within the area also decreasing in number.  This is not the only negative effect as tea production in these areas can also cause soil degradation. This is where extensive loss of soil is a result of the plantations initially not being able to protect the soil, especially on land which slopes.  Well established tea plantations are deep-rooted and able to sustain a healthy level of soil, but for those plantations which are new or regularly re-planted, then the area is more vulnerable to soil erosion and degradation.

This is where your Yorkshire tea is grown

The quality and condition of soil is a huge factor when considering the growth of a crop such as tea.  Compacted soils are low in oxygen.  One way in which soil is naturally introduced to oxygen is via earthworms and they play an important role here.  It is known that tea plantation soil contains considerably fewer earthworms than would be found in natural forest soil.

Part of the process of producing tea is to dry it.  Energy use is another environmental cost as wood is primarily the source of energy for drying the tea leaves.  Why should this matter?  Well where wood is used, this can lead to localised deforestation.

Drying tea is not very green, despite what you see here!

There are chemical inputs applied during the process which ultimately affect soil biodiversity, killing many of the micro-organisms within the soil and also causing some pollution.  The largest waste product from the process is tea itself.  This is usually mixed with lime before disposal which increases acidity and although the acidity is not suitable for the soil of crops, this waste is still organic matter and therefore environmentally friendly.

Tea production tends to be a mono cultural process and this therefore does not support the ecosystem functions which are carried out by the natural habitat.  Producing tea is costly to these habitats which are converted into tea plantations.

Costly

So, how does this compare to the production of coffee?

Coffee can be produced in shade plantations and sun plantations.  Looking from an environmental point of view, shade plantations are preferable as they allow coffee production whilst preserving most ecosystem functions – enhancing nutrient cycling, whilst maintaining higher levels of soil moisture and decreasing erosion.  Another possibility of such shade plantations could be ecotourism, such as bird watching amongst the shade trees.

In terms of actually buying the coffee beans, one thing which I’m sure we’re all aware of is the term “fair trade”.  This certification shows the consumer that the product meets certain standards, such as environmental, social and economic.  Purchasing coffee which meets these strict standards is certainly worthwhile if you are hoping to be more environmentally friendly.  Okay, so if going “fair trade” is something of an environmental improvement, then why isn’t all coffee produced this way?  Coffee selling businesses tend to include some fair trade coffee but the cost of this option isn’t always cheap.  It would be ideal if coffee production always had strict guidelines which benefited the environment. Unfortunately, as businesses are there to make profits, unless there is a very large demand for “fair trade” produce then the costs will remain high.  Should we as consumers encourage low prices and low standards just to save a relatively small amount of money?

Fairtrade coffee is now a buzzword

Coffee production could be improved to be more widely environmentally friendly.  It may be possible to incorporate habitat and biodiversity improvements without raising the costs involved in producing coffee this way. Certification is a way of achieving this.  If you are looking to help the environment then look for those products which have an organic certification, as they will be more eco-friendly.  These certification standards ensure that care has been taken to preserve and protect the natural habitats, whilst also not using harmful chemicals in the process.

It is one issue to look at how the production of tea and coffee can affect the environment but it is also worth considering what you can do at home to minimise any negative effects.  Both tea leaves and coffee grounds are ideal for making compost and this would help to minimise organic waste going in to landfills.  Another ecologically friendly thing which can be done is to invest in and use reusable coffee filters whilst making your own cups of coffee at home.

Make a sweet smelling coffee compost!

After exploring both the production of tea and coffee, which of the two could be described as the most environmentally friendly?  Tea plantations tend to strip a natural habitat of its natural ecosystem functions.  Although harnessing both crops on the large scales which consumers demand is damaging to the environment, it seems that perhaps the production of coffee has the potential to be the most environmentally sound.  These plantations can be amongst the natural habitats (shade plantations), thus minimising damage.  That being said, there are still a lot of things which can be done by consumers to improve the effects of both tea and coffee production and consumption. Consuming those products which have ensured certain standards and are eco-friendly is just one method of doing our part.

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