Green tea

Top tips for a low-carbon cuppa

In Britain we drink 229 million cups of tea and coffee every day.

In fact, about a quarter of all electricity used in domestic cooking is consumed by electric kettles.

It's unthinkable that we could make do without, but you can make tea without using so much energy. 

You can simply change the way you use your existing kettle or you can buy an eco-friendly model.

When buying from new, always choose a concealed element design - traditional exposed elements need to be fully submerged for them to work properly.

In some models, this means you can't boil small quantities of water.

Avoid energy-hungry 'keep-warm' functions and swanky neon lights or, worse, models with standby.

On the face of it, the Eco Kettle is a great idea. With the push of a button you can control the amount of water (one, two, three cups and so on) that goes into the boiling chamber.

In a test it was calculated that if we all used the Eco-kettle it would save 697,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually compared to a standard design.

Great stuff - but wouldn't the same savings be as easily achieved with your existing kettle?

A cheaper option

Save energy and money, and measure how much water you use. Simply fill your mug with water and pour it in. Or mark your kettle with a pen or sticker to indicate the level for 1 cup, 2 cups, etc.

Do it this way and you'll save around £40 (the cost of the Eco Kettle). That's enough to add thermostatic radiator valves to five radiators around your home.

This article is based on an extract from Friends of the Earth's book How Can I Stop Climate Change?

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