A group of residents gathered in Newton’s Eliot Church on Wednesday for a special sustainability event: “Tea and Treat.” Led by couple Alexander Lee and Iris Tang, the event had a Chinese tea tasting activity and a potluck that featured vegetarian dishes to introduce sustainability into everyday food consumption habits. 

After the potluck, there was an insightful presentation, where Lee discussed carbon reduction and sustainable living while sharing insights into Chinese tea traditions and their cultural history.

“We’re kind of living off of coffee at this point,” said Lee.

Although coffee remains the drink of choice for much of the world, Lee encouraged attendees to reflect on its environmental effects. He noted that large-scale coffee production has become a major setback to global sustainability.

“Americans alone dispose of about 50 billion coffee cups annually, many of which are non-recyclable or non-compostable,” said Lee. “We’re seeing massive deforestation to keep up with the demand for coffee.”

Lee noted that compared to coffee, tea leaves a much lighter mark on the planet, a promising step toward more sustainable daily habits.

“Producing a pound of roasted coffee emits about 11 pounds of carbon emissions,” Lee said. “The carbon dioxide produced from coffee is almost three times higher than that of tea, even though people typically drink only about a quarter as much coffee as tea.”

He also pointed out the need for sustainable water use in tea preparation, presenting induction cooking as a sustainable method.

“Be careful with how you boil the water for the tea,” Lee said. “Practice induction cooking to conserve energy and heat efficiently.”

To make the shift toward sustainable living feel joyful, Lee weaved in intriguing facts about tea-cooking and tea-brewing in ancient Chinese traditions.

“There’s an ancient Chinese text that refers to the size of the bubbles in the water, so that it’s the right temperature for brewing your particular kind of tea,” Lee said.

Tea tasting at the event was an immersive experience, replicating one in a Chinese teahouse. Attendees sat around two long rectangular tables, conversing with enthusiasm while Lee and Tang poured freshly made brews from delicate Chinese teapots. 

In front of every guest sat three teacups of varying sizes and shapes, each designed to enhance a different aspect of flavor. Every new pour of the five Chinese teas thrown into the Boston Harbor in 1773 came with a story that featured the tea’s origin, its aroma, and the distinct character that set each apart. 

No sips tasted the same—some carried a light sweetness, while others a hint of sourness, and a few were bitter. 

“Pu’er tea has a very strong smoky, more bitter taste,” Tang said. “But they taste slightly different, depending on which mountain they were grown on.” 

Tang also displayed a long-preserved traditional technique of packaging tea that wraps a few handfuls of tea in a single giant paper wrap.

“I’ve never seen anything like this, never seen tea packaged like this,” said Brita Lundberg, attendee and member of the Eliot Church Creation Care team. 

For Lundberg, tea drinking is part of her everyday lifestyle.

“I know that I myself have changed my habits after I read this article in The New York Times,” Lundberg said. “I did notice that I started drinking less coffee. I used to drink three, and now I’ve replaced it with an afternoon tea.”

She added that her environmental conservation efforts brought notable health benefits.

“It’s hibiscus tea, which I believe has quite a bit of vitamin C in it, and so I find that it has the same effect as coffee, but it doesn’t have the same physiological effect in terms of keeping you awake at night,” said Lundberg. “I actually sleep much better at night.”

Lundberg described the tea-making process as straightforward in contrast to the complexity of her usual coffee routine.

“It’s much easier to prepare my afternoon tea than my morning coffee,” Lundberg said. “I’m a little picky about my coffee. I grind the beans fresh every day.”

She is optimistic that sustainability events like Tea and Treat could start meaningful changes in the community.

“I have hopes that through events like this, people will become more educated and may change their habits,” Lundberg said.