By David Saunders | UPDATED: 06:28, 01 May 2020
Brits love tea – that’s a fact. No matter the circumstances, we find comfort in drinking a cuppa.
With that in mind SaveOnEnergy sought to find out more about the tea drinking habits of Brits and asked 1,206 respondents how much tea they are drinking now, compared to how much they were drinking before the lockdown.
As energy experts, SaveOnEnergy were also interested in how many CO2 emissions were being made due to our quintessentially British habit – and which cities were the biggest kettle boilers in the UK!
So how much tea are Brits drinking after the lockdown?
According to our survey, Brits are drinking more tea since lockdown. Around 2 cups of tea more on average! The regions drinking around 5 cups of tea a day are Scotland, Wales and East of England. The second highest number of tea drinkers, an average of 4 cups a day, are people from London and West Midlands.
What are the most tea loving cities in the UK?
All Brits love tea, but who loves it the most? We asked our responds how much they actually like this comforting drink and have it daily. Our survey reveals that the most tea-loving cities are:
Edinburgh – 6 cups/day
Leeds – 6 cups/day
Birmingham – 6 cups/day
Cardiff – 6cups/day
London – 5 cups/day
Nottingham – 5 cups/day
Leicester – 5 cups/day
Swansea – 5 cups/day
Sheffield – 4 cups/day
Manchester – 4 cups/day
What teas do Brits enjoy the most?
Perhaps to no surprise, English tea (with milk) comes top with 47% of Brits saying this is their first choice when brewing a cuppa. Herbal teas come next, with 24% of Brits enjoying the healthy benefits of different plants.
English Breakfast tea (with milk) – 47%
Herbal tea – 24%
Black tea – 13%
Green tea – 9%
Fruit tea – 7%
How much is your cup of tea costing the environment?
Before the lockdown Brits were producing 392 kgCO2e/Year just by making tea. To put that in perspective, a one-way train journey from London to Scotland would produce around 300 kgCO2e. This number has significantly increased after being forced to stay at home, when the majority of people have said they drink on average 2 more cups of tea a day.
The regions drinking around 5 cups of tea a day and hence producing 71kgCO22/Year are: Scotland, Wales and East of England. The second highest number of tea drinkers, an average of 4 cups a day, and producing approximately 56kgCO2e/Year are people from London and West Midlands.
In conclusion, the carbon footprint due to boiling our kettles will increase by over 50% in a year in lockdown.
People admit to forgetting they boiled the kettle 2 times/day, increasing the carbon footprint by 58%/Year
When asked if they ever forget they boiled the kettle, which results in them needing to boil it again, the majority of Brits said this happens around 2 times a day, which in a year, increases the amount of CO2e drastically.
In fact, when calculating how much CO2e is released after adding two extra kettle boils to each area, it results in a whopping 934 kgCO2e/Year. This is the equivalent to three train trips from London to Edinburgh!
*Data is based on the electricity used by the average kettle in the UK, which takes approximately 3 minutes to boil.