The Environment

Our dedication to protecting the environment pre-dates our love of tea, which is why we’ve taken every step we can think of to reduce the environmental footprint of Arbor Teas. Never ones to rest on our laurels, we’re always looking for further opportunities to "green-up" our company, giving back to the planet whenever we can. Here’s just a quick summary of the measures we take at Arbor Teas to reduce the environmental impact of our business:

  •  Our entire catalog of teas is certified organic under the USDA National Organic Program.

  •  We’ve replaced our former tin-plated steel canisters (an old stand-by in the tea industry) with canisters made of parchment-lined paperboard, which generate less than one-fifth of the carbon emissions of tin-plated steel canisters.

  •  By participating in DTE Energy’s GreenCurrents program, we promote the generation of energy from renewable sources, preventing approximately 10,000 pounds of carbon from being released into the atmosphere each year.

  •  For those carbon emissions that we just can’t avoid (yet), we’ve teamed-up with CarbonFund.org to offset them by promoting the development of green energy, energy efficiency and reforestation.

  •  We aggressively recycle our solid waste, reusing office supplies and packaging materials wherever possible. These efforts have been recognized through our partnership with the Washtenaw County Waste Knot Program.

  •  In addition to recycling boxes for shipping our orders, we reclaim packing peanuts from local businesses and the local Materials Recovery Facility. So don’t be surprised if your order shows up packed in a hodgepodge of packing peanuts that have been given a second life (we call this our "peanut soup")!

  •  We take a green approach to printing, which means we keep our printing minimal, use post-consumer recycled paper, and use low VOC soy- and/or water-based inks whenever possible.

  •  Although all of our shipping (both to and from our facility) has been carbon offset through CarbonFund.org, our customers can elect to have their orders shipped via USPS Parcel Post, which doesn’t rely on air transportation (except to Alaska and Hawaii). Air transit generates far greater greenhouse gas emissions than ground transportation.

If you have an idea about how we could further reduce our environmental footprint, please e-mail us at Green-Up@ArborTeas.com. Many of our best ideas have come from customers like you!