Yellow tea, the original parent tree species was discovered in Tiantai County, Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province. It is a unique and rare tea tree variety with natural yellowing mutations, and one of the specialty teas in Zhejiang Province. "Tiantai Yellow Tea" has been certified by national geographical indications and is known as "gold in tea". Tiantai Yellow Tea ("Zhonghuang No. 1") has been promoted and developed nearly 10,000 acres in the county, forming a characteristic yellow tea industrial belt centered on street towns. It was selected into the comprehensive pilot project of rural revitalization in Zhejiang Province in 2022, becoming a model for the integration of three industries and common prosperity.
How to empower Tiantai Yellow Tea? How to express the green and low-carbon characteristics of yellow tea planting, operation and processing? Street towns think of two words that have been very popular recently: "carbon footprint" and "carbon label". "Carbon footprint" is a measure of the total amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emitted throughout the life cycle of a product or service. It is the most important evaluation indicator in the current field of carbon emissions;"carbon label" is a symbol of the digitization of a product's carbon footprint.
"Through carbon footprint carbon labeling, independent carbon reduction effects such as reducing and increasing efficiency of medicine and fertilizer, preventing and controlling green organisms, and replacing compound fertilizers with organic fertilizers in tea garden operations can be reflected on carbon labeling." Pang Qianhui, deputy mayor of Street Town in Tiantai County, told reporters that agricultural products with lower carbon footprints are often safer and have less impact on the environment, achieving a win-win situation for low-carbon emission reduction and green development; at the same time, they help tea gardens further seek opportunities to reduce carbon emissions in planting, operation and processing, and improve the safety and competitiveness of agricultural products.
Jiedou Town entrusted the team of Professor Zhou Guomo from Zhejiang Agriculture and Forestry University and the Key Laboratory of Carbon Fixation and Emission Reduction in Zhejiang Province to carry out the development of yellow tea carbon footprint carbon labels. Team members went to Zhejiang Tiantai Jiuzhe Tea Industry Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Province Agricultural Major Technology Collaborative Promotion Plan Demonstration Base, the National "Zhonghuang No. 1" Tea Industry Standardization Demonstration Zone and other places to conduct on-site surveys to comprehensively test and calculate the carbon emissions and carbon reserves of yellow tea throughout its life cycle, including the total amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases accumulated in various aspects such as tea garden operation, tea processing, warehousing and distribution, consumption and disposal, and measure the contribution of tea tree carbon absorption. Form a carbon footprint of yellow tea.
On this basis, Jiedou Town combined the characteristics of Tiantai yellow tea to design a yellow tea carbon label, and used a QR code digital passport to present six aspects of carbon footprint reports: company and product introduction, evaluation methods, accounting results, certification certificates, and traceability videos. and visual content show the information on carbon emissions and carbon absorption throughout the life cycle of yellow tea.
Subsequently, Street Town will visually display the carbon emissions and carbon absorption of yellow tea throughout its life cycle by adding carbon labels and QR codes to product packaging, so that consumers can deeply understand the impact of yellow tea on the environment. Popularize low-carbon knowledge, guide the public to low-carbon consumption, and assume social responsibilities; at the same time, it will also encourage local tea farmers and enterprises to adopt more low-carbon and environmentally friendly production methods, promote the green and high-quality development of the yellow tea industry in Street Town, and achieve common prosperity in agricultural ecology.