An Efficient Cup of Tea

This simple behavioral change is crazy simple, but surprisingly rare.

You might think I’m going to talk about the different methods used to boil water, and which is best… use the microwave? a gas stove? an induction cooktop? maybe one of those insta-hot dispensers? These all have different energy consumption and GHG emission rates, but those issues are often overshadowed by a much simpler issue: never boil more water than you need.

Boiling water takes an amazing amount of energy. And yet, how many times have you had tea at a friend’s house and watched a half-gallon of water heated to boiling, when only two cups were needed?

Here’s the trick: start with an empty kettle. Fill the desired number of cups with water, and pour them into the kettle. Now boil it, and you end up with just the right amount of tea, without wastefully boiling an extra quart.

Tada!