Sustainable swaps – Make your routines more eco friendly

Drinking tea – comparatively speaking – is not super harsh on the environment, until we come to the packaging involved with some tea products, which can be quite excessive. So in today’s post, we looked at every step of the tree drinking process to offer you alternative options to ensure you’re looking after Planet Earth as well as yourself.

1. The cup

Here at City to Cottage we make amazing earthenware that is created with care in respect to every step of production from sourcing our clay to manufacturing it, and getting it to your doorstep. However, there comes a time when you must take your tea on the go: commuting, driving, socially distanced tea drinking in a park or just your Sunday afternoon walk – not exactly Afternoon Tea at The Ritz but it sure feels luxurious sometimes! So when you think about transporting your cup of tea, think reusable.

According to greenmatch.co.uk, “16 billion paper cups are used for coffee every single year, which leads to 6.5 million trees cut down, 4 billion gallons of water going to waste, and enough energy to power 54,000 homes for a year also goes to waste.” It really is a no brainer to swap to a reusable coffee cup instead.

And if you decide to stay at home and enjoy the full tea experience: go for one of our teapots, or tea sets – with the adorable milk jug, sugar bowl and even tea cups and saucers.

Our favourite reusable cups

• For slow drinkers – Fellow Carter Everywhere Mug
• For a slick, Japanese design – Hario Uchi Mug
• For maximum insulation efficiency – Kinto Travel Tumbler

2. The tea

Loose leaf tea is obviously better – packaging is much less than it is with the ones where there’s filter. You can opt for a loose leaf tea strainer with your teapot, or a reusable tea bag for your cup or mug.
To get rid of the tea leaves from a reusable cotton teabag, turn the teabags inside out and add it to the compost. Soak the bag in cold water to help prevent stains. Hand wash them with a little washing up liquid, then a quick rinse under the tap should do.

3. Reusable coffee capsules & filters

They work in a similar manner to those loose leaf tea strainers, but for coffee. The capsules are very easy to wash, by hand or in the dishwasher, and this way you can support local roasters as you are able to choose any ground coffee. If you put tea in these capsules you can get two cups of tea out of your Nespresso machine in a matter of seconds, too. Don’t forget – reusing is always better than recycling.
If you like your dripper, you can get a permanent pour over coffee dripper for a paperless pour-over experience.

4. Beeswax wrap

Now that we’ve enjoyed morning tea and coffee in a very sustainable and eco-friendly way, it’s time to change our breakfast routines as well. Although sandwich boxes, lunch boxes and bento boxes act great as reusable packaging, use beeswax wraps to pack sandwiches, protect open food or store fresh herbs. They are a brilliant reusable, plastic free alternative to cling film or food wrapping. Beeswax wrap can function as a bread basket as well – if you are struggling with space in your apartment, but would like to keep bread fresher, longer – try beeswax wrap. These come in all shapes and sizes so you’ll find your perfect match.

5. Tea towels

Tea towels can replace single use paper towels in a heartbeat! The more you keep of these, the easier it is to have a clean one at hand. Also, feel free to re-use old bedsheets as tea towels and use them for cleaning around the house. You can still keep your posh towels for actual tea parties and serving scones to your guests, however, keep a few old rugs and clothes in your cupboard to clean countertops, taps, spills and much more.

Done with cleaning? Soak the stained cloths in boiling water with sodium bicarbonate and some vinegar, and line dry in the sun – you’ll have sparkly clean dishcloths in the end! Pro tip – add a few small drops of citrus essential oil to the boiling mix for a fresh scent not just for your cloths, but for your home as well.

Have you made any sustainable swaps in 2021 so far?