As you probably know, Bigelow Tea has been making efforts to make the company more “green”. My family has also taken up the “green” cause. With the high cost of gas and following our personal beliefs, we decided to look into hybrid vehicles. Being a bit of an engineering family we went ahead and compared the vehicles that were available and then our family picked the one that met our needs, a Toyota Prius. That was over a year ago and with the price of gas increasing faster than our savings account it has proven to be a good investment. When you turn the car on, you hear no engine starting. The gauges all light up but the engine does not turn on until the demand is higher than what the battery can supply. It has become somewhat entertaining to see how far we can go without having the engine come on. My eight year old son is always watching to see if Dad can make it to the end of the street without the engine, or can get all the battery charge bars green when heading down the hill by our house.

We are active recyclers at our house as well, sorting out our paper, newspaper, cardboard, metal, glass and plastics. We take our garbage to our disposal station ourselves, so we are very aware of how much trash we produce at all times. My son participates in this activity as well and helps us by placing his “trash” in the appropriate recycle bin. We use fluorescent lights in our house, and our son is slowly getting better at realizing that using lights when not in the room is a waste of electricity and may be contributing to air pollution and global warming depending on your electricity source. We also belong to a program created by our electric company that allows us to specify that our power usage be purchased through renewable sources. It costs us a little more each month, but we believe in putting our money where our mouth is.

Do we do everything we can to conserve, recycle and protect the environment? I am sure we do not, but slowly every year we add on a little more as we can, and more importantly, we talk about it as a family. When my son becomes an adult, the “new” stuff we do will be old hat to him. Our family has made an effort to be green, and so has the Bigelow Tea Company.

Going green doesn’t have to be a “big” thing. It starts small, and can grow as much as you want. Green at home often translates to green at work. We have found talking about it with children, co-workers and friends also helps spread the desire and knowledge about things we can all do to make our world just a little “greener”.

Here’s hoping you can find a way big or small to get “green”. Kermit was wrong after all, “It is easy being green!”

Dean

Modern society moves at an ever-increasing pace. In fact, the typical tea cup may now be out-of-step with our hustle-and-bustle world as much as we’d hate to admit it. As Alexis at the My Tea Cups blog notes, “tea cups are works of art, and I try to enjoy every bit of tea in a beautiful cup as often as possible. However, there are times when I don’t have those precious moments to sit and sip, and I have to take my tea on the go and drink it from an oh so boring paper cup.”

That’s the dilemma facing many of us. Until now, that is. Alexis’ post goes on to introduce a new type of to go cup. One that’s not only convenient, but that’s also environment-friendly. As Alexis describes it, her find is a “porcelain cup with silicone lid that looks like a paper cup.”

If you need to take your tea time on the run, be sure to check this out for yourself here.

We were recently contacted by the city of Fairfield to participate in their town’s Earth Day Celebration.  The town is trying to build the event so more people are exposed to what each and everyone can do to help make the environment better.  Recently we passed around the book “Stirring It Up” which talked about several companies and what they have been doing to make their companies environmentally friendly.  Being able to see what other companies are doing has helped us set higher and higher expectations and look for ways we can make more of an impact. 

As we have taken many steps in the company to be as “green” as possible some of the side benefits have been in our “away from work lives.”  For example, the company had an outside firm come in and offer compact florescent light bulbs for sale at a discount.  Most employees took the opportunity to at least buy one.  The other day one employee told me they were so impressed that they went out and replaced all their old light bulbs with the compact florescent bulbs.  Now they are seeing their electric bills being $30 per month lower, needless to say they are very happy.  The Earth Day celebration is another opportunity to expose people to practices and actions we have taken as a company and as individuals.  One by one people are making a positive impact on the environment and are raising the bar for all to follow.

Dean

The Connecticut Post reported this week that Bigelow Tea will be among this year’s honorees at the Bridgeport Regional Council (BRBC) annual dinner which takes place tonight.  The council is recognizing one state agency and five area businesses for their environmental leadership.  Bigelow Tea was chosen because of exemplary efforts made to reduce energy costs by installing solar panels in their facility.  Bigelow Tea was creative and financed part of the cost with a grant.  In addition to R. C. Bigelow Inc, the other “green” regional businesses being acknowledged are Aquarion, St. Vincent’s Medical Center, Santa Energy of Bridgeport and Urban Green Builders.

These companies are an example to all businesses…while being “green” means saving the environment…it can also mean saving the other green — $$$ — in the process!