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Tea: The New Frontier
Starbucks has began its new enterprise: tea. Starbucks, which revolutionized the coffee industry, is now taking on tea. It has opened its first tea bar, and it's creating mixed tea beverages, some even more complex and customized than the coffee beverages we all know. The Tea Association of the United States says tea has been growing in popularity and, in the U.S., the wholesale value of tea has grown from $2 billion to $10 billion over the past 20 years. There are some 4,000 specialty tea rooms and retail stores. Less than a year ago, Starbucks bought Teavana with its 100 teas and retail shops.
Starbucks has began its new enterprise: tea. Starbucks, which revolutionized the coffee industry, is now taking on tea. It has opened its first tea bar, and it's creating mixed tea beverages, some even more complex and customized than the coffee beverages we all know. The Tea Association of the United States says tea has been growing in popularity and, in the U.S., the wholesale value of tea has grown from $2 billion to $10 billion over the past 20 years. There are some 4,000 specialty tea rooms and retail stores. Less than a year ago, Starbucks bought Teavana with its 100 teas and retail shops.
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Are Plastic Tea Bags Harmful?
The issue of whether or not the new innovation of plastic tea bags are safe for human use has been hotly contested over the years. Could plastic tea bags also be bad for our health? They are most commonly made from food grade nylon or polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which are two of the safest plastics on the scale of harmful leaching potential. Both have very high melting points, which offer some assurance to consumers, as one would think the melting point of plastic is the temperature at which one would need to worry about accidentally eating it. "If the question is, 'As the polymer goes through that transition state, is it easier for something to leach out?', the answer is yes," said Dr. Ray Fernando, professor and director of polymers and coatings at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. "However, just because it makes it easier for something to leach out, it doesn't mean it will." There seems to be something in the plastic collective consciousness that says there are inherently toxins in all plastics, and when they begin to break down, they will naturally gravitate toward food. "This would only happen if there are potential materials trapped in the substance. What we don't know is what FDA requirements manufacturers have to meet before they go to market," said Dr. Fernando. Aditionally, in 2009, a study found that single-use PET plastic water bottles were found to have estrogen-mimicking pollutants in them. Such toxins have been linked to cancer. If PET is found in these water bottles, the same material Lipton claims to use in their plastic tea bags, it's fair to say there is a chance these tea bags are leaching toxins into the tea they're brewing.
The issue of whether or not the new innovation of plastic tea bags are safe for human use has been hotly contested over the years. Could plastic tea bags also be bad for our health? They are most commonly made from food grade nylon or polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which are two of the safest plastics on the scale of harmful leaching potential. Both have very high melting points, which offer some assurance to consumers, as one would think the melting point of plastic is the temperature at which one would need to worry about accidentally eating it. "If the question is, 'As the polymer goes through that transition state, is it easier for something to leach out?', the answer is yes," said Dr. Ray Fernando, professor and director of polymers and coatings at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. "However, just because it makes it easier for something to leach out, it doesn't mean it will." There seems to be something in the plastic collective consciousness that says there are inherently toxins in all plastics, and when they begin to break down, they will naturally gravitate toward food. "This would only happen if there are potential materials trapped in the substance. What we don't know is what FDA requirements manufacturers have to meet before they go to market," said Dr. Fernando. Aditionally, in 2009, a study found that single-use PET plastic water bottles were found to have estrogen-mimicking pollutants in them. Such toxins have been linked to cancer. If PET is found in these water bottles, the same material Lipton claims to use in their plastic tea bags, it's fair to say there is a chance these tea bags are leaching toxins into the tea they're brewing.
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Tea and the EnvironmentThe carbon footprint of a cup of tea or coffee
21g CO2e: black tea or coffee, boiling only the water you need
53g CO2e: white tea or coffee, boiling only the water you need
71g CO2e: white tea or coffee, boiling double the water you need
235g CO2e: a large cappuccino
340g CO2e: a large latte
It looks, from the number, that tea has less of an impact on the environment than coffee, mainly because of the use of milk in coffee. Starbucks brand tea, usually Tazo or Teavana, is mostly organic, creating less of an impact than the less-often-organic coffee sold there. The obvious way to slash the footprint of your drink, is to reduce the amount of milk you add, or simply to take it black (herbal or green tea, anyone?). This will fractionally reduce your nutritional intake, of course, but you could easily replace the lost calories with something more carbon-friendly.
So the next time you find yourself at Starbucks, choose your drink wisely—it could be having more of an impact than you might think!
21g CO2e: black tea or coffee, boiling only the water you need
53g CO2e: white tea or coffee, boiling only the water you need
71g CO2e: white tea or coffee, boiling double the water you need
235g CO2e: a large cappuccino
340g CO2e: a large latte
It looks, from the number, that tea has less of an impact on the environment than coffee, mainly because of the use of milk in coffee. Starbucks brand tea, usually Tazo or Teavana, is mostly organic, creating less of an impact than the less-often-organic coffee sold there. The obvious way to slash the footprint of your drink, is to reduce the amount of milk you add, or simply to take it black (herbal or green tea, anyone?). This will fractionally reduce your nutritional intake, of course, but you could easily replace the lost calories with something more carbon-friendly.
So the next time you find yourself at Starbucks, choose your drink wisely—it could be having more of an impact than you might think!
Sources
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/11/01/242104942/can-starbucks-do-for-tea-what-it-has-done-for-coffeehttp://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/04/are-tea-bags-turning-us-into-plastic/274482/http://www.hellogreentomorrow.com/blog/2010/11/environmental-impacts-of-coffee-and-tea-production/
Photo Sources
http://www.weebly.com/uploads/2/7/5/9/27594815/718811704.jpg
http://www.weebly.com/uploads/2/7/5/9/27594815/208366826.jpghttp://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2008/09/15/tea_bag460.jpg
http://cdn2.collective-evolution.com/assets/uploads/2013/10/Tea-Comparison-Chart.jpg
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/11/01/242104942/can-starbucks-do-for-tea-what-it-has-done-for-coffeehttp://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/04/are-tea-bags-turning-us-into-plastic/274482/http://www.hellogreentomorrow.com/blog/2010/11/environmental-impacts-of-coffee-and-tea-production/
Photo Sources
http://www.weebly.com/uploads/2/7/5/9/27594815/718811704.jpg
http://www.weebly.com/uploads/2/7/5/9/27594815/208366826.jpghttp://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2008/09/15/tea_bag460.jpg
http://cdn2.collective-evolution.com/assets/uploads/2013/10/Tea-Comparison-Chart.jpg