In keeping with the Going Green theme, nothing could be better than serving tea grown in one's own country. The Charleston Tea Plantation is the only place in North America where tea is grown. The plantation is owned now by Bigelow Tea.
From the Bigelow catalog: " Located in the heart of South Carolina's "Lowcountry," the Charleston Tea Plantation is the only commercial producer of black tea in North America. It's incredible, really, that across the enormity of this continent it is only here on Wadmalaw Island, S.C. that growing conditions are ideal for tea plants, which need to be rooted in sandy soil with plenty of heat, humidity and rain. In fact, the next closest tea plantations are: Argentina - 4.823 miles, Turkey - 5.630 miles, China - 7.320 miles, Kenya - 7,816 miles, Indonesia - 10.149 miles."
American Classic has four varieties of tea including Charleston Breakfast, Governor Gray, Plantation Peach and Rockville Raspberry. They are all delicious but my favorite is the Plantation Peach. They have pyramid tea bags too for any special tea party. And I would use them for the Going Green Tea Party so everyone can see where the tea came from.
Bigelow Tea has their own green mission statement. It is like Anita is always saying, your green actions will inspire others to try the same. Quoting here: "Bigelow Tea is a family company that has tried to do the right thing for our employees, the community and the planet since my grandmother founded the company back in 1945. We hope that our actions will help cultivate a positive influence and motivate others to do good things for the earth. We want to inspire our employees to see conservation as a way of life not just an initiative at the office.
Maybe our collective efforts will encourage our customers to share with us some of the good work they are doing. And wouldn’t it be wonderful if our accomplishments inspire others to take action. As I have said to those around me for a very long time "Do the right thing, and good things will follow". We can make a difference, each and every one of us. It doesn't have to always be "big things" either. Some of our programs are quite expansive (like our 1.5 million dollar solar panel project) and some are quite small-like bringing in our own tea mugs so that we do not continue to add to our land fill with disposable cups. Large or small, we believe that every step is important. "
Edit: After I posted this, Linda from Friendship Tea directed me to her blog for lots of pictures of the Charleston Tea Plantation and her tour of it. How delightful! Please go to her blog to see how tea is grown. You'll feel almost as though you've been there in person. Thanks so much, Linda!
I want to give some links so you can enjoy this tea too. The Charleston Tea Plantation site has tons of pictures of their beautiful gardens as well as descriptions of their tea and other products. The Bigelow Tea site is full of tea information but it is their tea and tea accessories that will make your heart beat faster. Right now I'm drooling over their Citrine Tea Set which I just noticed is on sale. Now, where is my credit card.
Just to be clear, I have no connection with Bigelow other than being a happy customer. I've always had great service from them. Things arrive quickly and are even better than expected. It's just a really good company to do business with.
This is the final post in the Going Green Tea Party series. Next up, in response to a special request by Moonshadow, is a Princess Tea for children.
