Sustainability Efforts

At Arbor Teas, our daily mission is to find the world's most fantastic organic teas and deliver them to you as sustainably as possible. This is a process that we are always working to improve, envisioning a tea leaf that happily moves through its entire life cycle creating a healthier world and healthier you.

Organic Farming & Bio Dynamic Farming
Low Water Intensive Crop
Tea & Climate Change
Domestic Sourcing Program

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Perhaps our most important decision is to only source tea and herbs that are certified organic. This choice has the greatest impact on lowering the carbon footprint of your tea leaf and promoting sustainability. Arbor Teas is deeply committed to organic agriculture, offering an entire catalog of organic teas and herbs. Organic tea production makes a far smaller impact on the environment than conventional agriculture by eliminating the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Tea is considered a rainwater plant. Meaning that it is grown with the use of rainfall only and does not require irrigation water or processing water.

Tea is not indigenous to the USA (it is native to Southeast Asia), but many of the herbs we sell are! When possible we source our herbs from farmers in the USA and are working to encourage the development of new blends that use herbs grown and processed in our home state of Michigan.

Sea Freight for Overseas Teas & Herbs
Ground Transportation for Domestic Herbs
Offset Carbon Emissions with Carbon Fund

We've teamed up with Carbon Fund to offset the carbon emissions created in the transportation of your tea from its source to the Arbor Teas facility.

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Solar Powered Packaging Facility
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Materials
Compost Bio-Waste
Green Currents Participant
Minimal Printing

We've installed solar panels at our facility and participate in DTE Energy's GreenCurrents program, which further promotes the generation of energy from renewable sources.

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To reduce our dependency on fossil fuels, we’ve installed a solar array at our facility to supply our electricity and participate in DTE Energy’s Green Currents program, which further promotes the generation of energy from renewable sources.

We aggressively recycle our solid waste, reusing office supplies and packaging materials wherever possible.

We compost all our food and tea scraps. Composting is earth-changing. It is a solution for healthy soil, healthy plants, less waste, and can even help reduce climate change. Plus, it's easy - learn how to compost!

We also take a green approach to printing, which means we keep our printing minimal, and use post-consumer recycled paper and soy- and/or water-based inks that are low in volatile organic compounds (VOC). We promise you'll never find a printed Arbor Teas catalog in your mailbox!

Most importantly, we not only promote environmental sustainability, but mental and physical sustainability too. Every day we enjoy one another's company during a group lunch hour (with no disposables) and make time to fill our daily quota of laughs.

Backyard Compostable Packaging
Cellulose Material from Managed Forests
Over 90% Renewable Raw Material
Light Material Requires Less Energy Input
No Tea Bags

Arbor Teas is the first and only tea company to deliver its full line of organic loose teas in 100% backyard compostable packaging. In doing so, we've significantly reduced both the carbon emissions and waste stream associated with our products.

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With our industry-leading backyard compostable packaging, you can compost your used tea leaves and packaging in your backyard compost heap. Created from a cellulose film that is derived from wood pulp sourced from sustainably managed trees, this thin lightweight material breaks down quickly and adds practically no weight to shipping. The labels are composed of sugar cane-based paper. They're adhered with an innovative compostable adhesive that meets the requirements of DIN CERTCO and BPI for biodegradability and compostability, in addition to being compliant with the ASTM D6868 - an industry first!

We keep our tea loose - which means we do not confine our tea inside single serve tea bags or K-cups, but loosely hand pack it inside one bulk package. This eliminates the need for extra material and keeps it out of the waste stream. Plus, it gives you a chance to lay eyes on the beautiful tea leaves that make each cup worth it!

USPS & UPS Ground Transportation
Avoid Air Transit
Emissions Offset with Carbon Fund
Post Consumer Waste Shipping Materials
Recycle Shipping Materials

We've teamed up with Carbon Fund to offset the carbon emissions created in the transportation of your tea from its source to the Arbor Teas facility.

Choose No-Waste Tea Alternatives
Use Less Water & Energy to Prepare Tea
Compost Used Tea Leaves & Packaging
Drink Tea, an Energy-Efficient Beverage
Never Stop Improving

When you choose Arbor Teas, you support a sustainable, no-waste alternative that allows you to compost your used tea leaves and packaging with no waste.

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Did you know? A cup of tea, made by boiling only the amount of water you need, produces about one tenth of the carbon footprint generated by making a cappuccino. To put this into perspective, if you drink three cups of tea every day for a year, you will have used as much energy as a single 40-mile car ride. On the other hand, the energy involved in a three-a-day latte habit is equivalent to flying halfway to Europe!^*

We will continue to do everything we can to make your tea’s journey to you as sustainable as possible, but now the rest is up to you! Learn how to use less water and energy to prepare your tea at home with our Eco-Brewing Tips.

^*Source: “The World’s Water, 2008-2009″ by Peter Gleick, et al, www.waterfootprint.org

At Arbor Teas we never stop improving our commitment to sustainability. Click below to learn more about our sustainability initiatives related to tea, and improve sustainability at home with our eco-friendly brewing tips.

Sustainable
Partners

Sustainability
Issues & Tea

Eco-Friendly
Brewing Tips

Arbor Teas is built on a passion for amazing tea, and on a passion for sustaining a healthy planet and people. We consciously try to consider how every action, big and small, will affect our environment. But we can’t do it alone. We work with several partners who support us in these efforts:

Global Organic Alliance

Possibly our biggest commitment to sustainability is our decision to only source and sell organic teas and herbs. We believe organic agriculture is more sustainable for all living things, for our air, and for our water. Our operation is certified organic by Global Organic Alliance, so our customers can rest assured that the organic integrity of our teas and herbs have been preserved from crop to cup. Global Organic Alliance based in Ohio, was established in 1997 and maintains ISO 17065 and USDA & Canada accreditation.
For more information on our commitment to organics, visit our Organics page.

CarbonFund.org

We’ve taken a number of steps to minimize our contribution to global climate change, like offering exclusively organic teas, prioritizing sea freight for overseas shipments, powering our facility with solar panels, using backyard compostable packaging, and supporting green energy. Despite these actions, our business continues to generate a certain amount of carbon emissions that we just can’t avoid (yet).

Until we can eliminate these carbon emissions entirely, we’ve teamed up with CarbonFund.org to offset them by promoting green energy, energy efficiency, and reforestation. We agree wholeheartedly with Carbon Fund’s motto:
"Reduce what you can, offset what you can’t."
For more information about carbon offsetting, visit www.CarbonFund.org.

Fair Trade USA

We believe that we have a responsibility to support a higher standard of living and a sustainable future for the individuals who bring us our products. For this reason, Arbor Teas has committed itself to offering one of the widest selections of Fair Trade Certified® loose leaf teas available, and we celebrate the Fair Trade Certified® Communities from which they originate.

Fair Trade Certification verifies and acknowledges the commitment of these producers to meeting internationally recognized Fair Trade standards, which include:

Wages that meet or exceed legally established minimums
Absence of forced or child labor
Freedom of association and organization
Safe working conditions, including protection from exposure to harmful agrochemicals
Adherence to national and international labor protections, including those established by the International Labor Organization of the United Nations and, in India, by the Plantation Labor Act

Green America

Arbor Teas is a gold member of Green America's Green Business Network! The Green Business Network is the green business program of Green America, the nation's leading non-profit educator on socially and environmentally responsible consumption and investing. Green America’s mission is to harness economic power—the strength of consumers, businesses and the marketplace—to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society. Companies are only eligible for membership in the Green Business Network™ if they are found to be:

Using business as a tool for social change
"Values-driven," not simply profit-driven
Socially and environmentally responsible in the way they source, manufacture, and market their products, and run their offices and factories
Committed to and employing extraordinary and innovative practices that benefit workers, communities, customers, and the environment.

International Green Industry Hall of Fame (IGIHOF)

In 2014, Arbor Teas had the special honor of being inducted into the International Green Industry Hall of Fame. The International Green Industry Hall of Fame, is a non-profit based in California that recognizes individuals and organizations committed to creating a better environment through green practices. After a blind nomination process and a review by their Board of Directors, Arbor Teas was selected for conducting our small business with a genuine commitment to environmental stewardship. Other inductees that year included the likes of Interface, Roz Savage, URBEE, Nest, and many more - talk about honorable company!

The Green Panel

In 2017, Arbor Teas partnered with The Green Panel to install 19 American-made solar panels on our warehouse. Scaled and sized specifically to accommodate all of our energy consumption, we are intent on reducing our reliance on fossil fuels. We believe in the benefits of solar energy and are proud to be using renewable energy. Thanks to The Green Panel, a local solar company in our home state of Michigan, we are now able to run an even cleaner and more energy efficient business.

Washtenaw County Waste Knot Program

Arbor Teas became a partner of the Washtenaw County Waste Knot Program in 2008. The Waste Knot Program is a collection of businesses, schools, government agencies, and non-profit organizations committed to reducing waste and protecting the environment. The Waste Knot program aims to develop relationships within the Washtenaw County business community to increase waste reduction and recycling activities. To achieve its mission, the Waste Knot Program provides community-wide recognition and organization-based technical assistance along with value-added education to organizations that exhibit leadership in waste reduction and recycling or to organizations that desire to become leaders in waste reduction and recycling.

Our Commitment to Sustainability

Sustainability at the Source

Sustainable Transportation

Sustainable Facility

Sustainable Packaging

Sustainable Shipping

Sustainable Home