Green Me Tea is not the kind with antioxidants, but the kind that lessens its impact on our little blue green planet. Greening your tea is one small step that you can take to save both electricity and water. Read on to learn about the most energy efficient way to make tea, the best models of electric and stove-top kettles to buy, and how to maintain or clean-up an old or burnt tea kettle. Even if you are not in the market for a kettle, you just might learn a smidgen of history and a few cool facts about Green Me Tea.
Making tea is not high on most people’s list of wasteful, polluting deeds, but then most people have probably never seen this report. The sad fact is that most people boil more water than they need and they let their kettles run past the first boil. For example, according to the aforementioned report, if Brits were mindful of their tea practices, and boiled the right amount of water for the right amount of time, they would save enough electricity to power 75% of the street lights in the UK. Now just imagine those power savings spread across the globe…
The Energy Efficient Electric Kettle
But seriously, the most efficient tea kettle is surprisingly the one with a plug. Electric kettles save energy, especially if you only boil the amount of water that you need and you take advantage of the auto-shut-off feature offered on many contemporary models. Modern kettles offer other neat features, such as cordless pots, timers, and gold surfaced coils to reduce scaling. In addition, electric kettles are very efficient boiling water in a matter of minute(s). The average electric kettle sold today runs about 1000 watts to 1500 watts, with the higher powered kettles boiling water faster. Either way, an electric kettle uses less energy to boil water than a microwave or stove-top (electric or gas). You could say that the energy savings from using an electric kettle over boiling water on a stove-top is similar to the energy saved when switching from incandescent to CFL light bulbs. (For a quick tutorial on watts see this page.) And, if you think that you need to boil your tea water on a stove-top, then you obviously aren’t British.
Not surprisingly the first electric kettle was designed in the 1950s by the British duo William Russell and Peter Hobbs. If you are in the UK, you can supposedly find an electric kettle made by Russell Hobbs; however, in the US, Russell Hobbs has been replaced with Chef’s Choice, which is made in China. According to reviews, Chef’s Choice Electric Kettles are just not the same as classic Russell Hobbs. If you live in the UK and can find a Russell Hobbs electric kettle, you might wish to go with a different brand anyway, as Salton their parent company moved all production to China in 2002(Wikipedia).
I could not in good conscience profile a kettle made in China. Nor could I find any electric kettles made in the USA, which leaves us with the German company Braun (a Proctor & Gamble affiliate). According to their own website, Braun products are made in 5 countries (Germany, Ireland, Spain, Mexico, and China), so I called their US based customer service line and spoke to a representative who verified that Braun Electric Kettles are manufactured in Germany. I’ve never had a problem with a German made household good (and I’ve never owned a VW), so this assurance is good enough for me!
The Braun AquaExpress
Stove Top Kettle (not made in China)
My attempt to track down a stove top kettle made in the USA was less than fruitful. The closest I came is the Chantal tea kettle, which is assembled in the US (Texas) of parts made in Japan & Germany. Tea kettles by Chantal have earned decent reviews and they are found on Amazon
Kettle Maintenance - cleaning up a burnt kettle or getting rid of scaling
If you have recently experienced a tea kettle calamity don’t immediately assume all is lost. A burnt kettle can generally be remediated with a little Bar Keepers Friend
As mentioned above, vinegar is excellent for removing scaling or mineral deposits from the interior of both electric and stove top kettles. If you have mineral deposits in your electric kettle, you will want to remove them, as they reduce the efficiency of the heating coils. To clean your kettle, fill it with equal parts water and vinegar. Then boil the kettle and leave to sit over night (it will be smelly). Rinse the kettle in the morning with fresh water and give it a light scrub. If all goes well, your kettle should be scale free. The Braun kettles have gold coils, which purportedly prevents scaling, and I have not found any evidence to believe otherwise.
So, to Green Me your tea, the best option is to use an electric kettle, and only as much water as is needed to make your current cup of tea. Don’t leave your kettle on all day, better yet, get one with an auto shutoff function! And, just in case you don’t trust the auto-shut off on your kettle, here is a neat little gadget, the smoke detecting power strip, which I came across, while researching this article!
9 users commented in " Green Me Tea: an eco-friendly teapot? "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackDon’t forget the other electric tea kettle — filling your ceramic mug with cold water and putting it in the microwave. A properly maintained (clean and dry on the inside) microwave is about the most efficient way to heat up food and liquids that you could possibly get. Think about it — turn on the kettle, and it heats up the whole kettle, and the air around it, in addition to the water you want heated (and that’s assuming, as you advise, one only heats the required amount of water to the required temp); nuke the water instead, and only the water gets hot, while the microwave itself, and the air around it (except maybe right around your mug) remain un-heated. Today’s microwaves are perfectly safe to use, and they are more than capable of bringing water to a boil, plus, you don’t ever have the problem of yuckies remaining inside the kettle.
Indeed, I did not forget the trusty microwave, so perhaps I should clarify. When it comes to preparing a single cup of water a 1000 watt electric kettle and a 1000 watt microwave, should both be able to do the job in 60 seconds or less. However, when you increase the water, the microwave takes more time, and the electric kettle wins on efficiency. The new Braun models that I profiled claim to boil up to 7 cups of water in 60 or 70 seconds, which is faster and more efficient than your average microwave. So, depending on the wattage of your microwave and how much water you are trying to boil, the microwave may or may not be as efficient as a newer electric kettle.
I also put greater emphasis on electric kettles, because most tea drinkers tend to be a bit romantic, and they prefer a tea kettle to a microwave. Electric kettles are also more convenient for those that prefer to drink their tea in china or otherwise microwave unsafe cups.
Thanks for the reminder to descale my kettle–it’s been a while. And I’ve started to pay more attention to how much water I put in it.
I have an electric kettle with an automatic shut-off. A bad habit I have is turning on the kettle, going off to do something while I wait for it, coming back 15 minutes later, turning it on again, etc. Maybe I’ll keep a book or a knitting project in the kitchen and do that instead of wandering away.
With the amount of tea I drink, I won’t be surprised if I see a drop in my electicity bill just by being more careful in how I make my tea.
Perhaps I should have posted about being mindful of our kettles. I too have a bad habit of leaving my kettle on the stove top. And, when using the microwave to heat water, I’ve been known to wonder off and have to re-heat the water more than once! Sigh. I suppose that we should both work on taking a moment to both make AND drink our tea. Being mindful of what we do and how we spend our time is a big part of being green!
[...] my British and Asian pals, Alison discusses the repercussions of improper tea brewing in her post Green Me Tea at Green Me. And what discussion of food would be complete without discussing Why Learn How To [...]
[...] Allow me to get consumeristic for a minute. Our drip coffee maker kicked the bucket and we’ve quickly replaced it with a ceramic french press. Of course, one purchase leads to another, and now we’re finding ourselves microwaving water, two cups at a time in a pyrex cup. Seems awfully silly to waste the power of the microwave on boiling water when an electric tea kettle could do it much more efficiently. [...]
Hello,
I’m researching healthy teapots and read your article. I’m looking to buy a new teapot but I want one that is healthy. Have you taken into to consideration the health aspects of the teapot you recommended, the Braun? I’m not comfortable drinking out of a plastic vessel, especially at hot temperatures. Do you have any recommendations for a teapot that is both energy efficient and healthy for your body?
Pamela you might want to try one of the following Stainless or Glass Kettle Options:
Chef’s Choice Cordless Electric Kettle-Stainless
Capresso Glass Water Kettles
Unfortunately both the Chef’s Choice and the Capresso are made in China. So you might want to consider another option or buy your product in person. Kalorik makes stainless and glass kettles sold through Target, Costco and some other retailers, but I couldn’t find a country of origin.
[...] my British and Asian pals, Alison discusses the repercussions of improper tea brewing in her post Green Me Tea at Green Me. And what discussion of food would be complete without discussing Why Learn How To [...]
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