What's special about MyTeaShop?

Through our teas, we want to bring you moments to pause, enjoy, transcend.  That means everything leading up to that cup steaming before you, should be done right.  That peace is part of the pleasure. 

Teas are not all created equally. From one estate and factory to the next, environmental and social standards vary greatly. My Tea Shop and our suppliers are committed to dealing only with growers and manufacturers that exhibit a sustained commitment to environmental and social ethics.

Fair Treatment & Trading

Annual tea-buying missions provide our source company with regular opportunities to inspect the estates and factories we work with. The checklist includes:
Zero tolerance for child & slave labor
Fair compensation for workers
Free housing, medical care and education
Reinvestment in infrastructure
Respect for the labor force
Good community relationships

Only when all categories have been confirmed, will we do business with a supplier. More on child or slave labor: Zero tolerance policy. People are sometimes surprised to learn that child, and even slave labor does occur in some countries. We take care to ensure all of our products are produced 100% free of both. We feel very strongly about this, and wish all tea companies took the same consideration.

Plant-based Teabag Material

Our pyramid tea bags are made from plant based material (sugar cane, corn or abaca). They’re backyard compostable and biodegradable. Common commodity-grade pyramid bags are typically made of plastic/nylon fibres, which while steeping release thousands of microparticles into the tea and thus into your body. For our pyramid tea bags we have never used nylon or any other petroleum-based compound. You can relax and enjoy your tea naturally and safely.

Habitat Conservation

Habitat conservation is good both for the environment and the tea. Maintaining soil nutrients preserves a healthier terroir for growing luxury grade leaves. Our experience has shown that the healthier the habitat, the greater the crop yields for our farmers.

We look for tea farms with an active Environmental Management System that includes:
Ecosystem Conservation
Wildlife Protection
Water Conservation
Integrated Crop Management
Soil Management and Conservation
Integrated Waste Management

RESPONSIBLE TEA PRODUCTION

Why buy luxury grade teas?
Tea is a continuous crop. Unlike many other commercial crops, it can be grown 12 months of the year. For estates that value sustainability over quick profits, tea provides stable year-round income and jobs — both so important in the developing world.

Unfortunately, many tea estates don’t follow sustainability principles. The results are lower yields, poorer quality teas, lower prices and less stability for workers. By purchasing luxury grade teas, you play a part in supporting farmers, workers, and small businesses in some of the world’s most challenging locations.

The Luxury Tea Difference

Luxury quality teas are hand-plucked. This reduces reliance on fossil fuels and pollution, with virtually no CO2 output. (Japan is an exception. There, luxury teas are harvested by machine.) Tea plantations absorb CO2.  

Luxury-grade estates rehabilitate their soil. Fields are rotated and left fallow on a regular schedule, allowing the nutrients in the soil to replenish. The tea thus produced brings those rich nutrients into your body. Better botany, means less need for pesticides. 

Many of our luxury tea sourcing areas (i.e. Darjeeling, Kenyan Highlands or Sri Lanka) can support tea gardens that are 100% free of pesticides - due to the high altitudes, tea pests can’t survive. When these policies are followed, luxury tea estates thrive, providing jobs, housing, education and medical care for workers and their families.

ETHICAL TEA PARTNERSHIP

The Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) is a not-for-profit organization which convenes tea companies, development agencies, government and nongovernmental organizations to improve the lives of communities within the tea sector.  We work in partnership to tackle the deep rooted issues that affect  sustainability in the tea sector.

These include:
Improving the incomes and well-being of farmers and workers; Improving living conditions and nutrition;
Improving worklife and opportunities for women and young people in tea communities
Eliminating gender-based violence;
Improving climate change resilience.

To find out more about the ETP and its role at the centre of tea sustainability, visit:  www.ethicalteapartnership.org