Taitung Farmers Roll Out World’s First Carbon-Neutral Oolong Tea
A group of tea farmers from Taiwan’s southeast has been lauded as the first in the world to produce carbon-neutral oolong tea. It’s part of the agriculture ministry’s push to reach net-zero carbon emissions in the country’s agriculture by 2040.
These crispy oolong tea leaves from the southeast county of Taitung not only give off a rich aroma, but have a unique claim to fame.
They’ve become — according to international standards — the world’s first oolong tea to have no carbon footprint.
From every bag of organic fertilizer
to every weed cutter used by each person
and even down to every bit of electricity consumed
we’ve accounted for all of it
and calculated the total carbon footprint
before delivering the products to customers.
Almost every step of modern tea production emits carbon.
From withering to drying to roasting, these tea farmers are trying to replace machinery with natural sunlight, following traditional processing practices.
They say the transition hasn't been easy.
It can also be replaced with gas heaters and blowers
but we insist on using natural sunlight for withering.
The challenge, though, is that
it requires close attention to the weather.
Although the production process has become more time-consuming and unpredictable, these tea farmers and the local officials who’ve helped them believe it’s for a worthy cause.
We hope that our visitors and customers alike
can understand and experience Taitung’s “slow economy”
which embodies our respect for the environment.
The production is proven to be carbon neutral. Any detectable carbon emissions are balanced out with investment in clean energy.
It’s one step forward in the agriculture ministry’s plan to have farming reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. And that all starts with greener local tea production.
