Small labels carry big strategies, and Hangzhou West Lake Longjing carbon label was officially launched

The breeze blows through the tea mountain, and the West Lake Longjing has been listed before this spring and tomorrow. Along with spring tea, there is also the West Lake Longjing carbon label.

On March 29, the 2024 West Lake Longjing Spring Tea Season and Shangchun Mountain Tea Fun Activity was held in Longwu Tea Town, Hangzhou, and the West Lake Longjing (Zhuantang Street) carbon label was officially released at the event.

In recent years, Xihu District has actively responded to the national "dual carbon" goal, and under the guidance of the Hangzhou Municipal Bureau of Ecology and Environment, it has effectively promoted the work of pollution reduction and carbon reduction in the district. Zhuantang Street (hereinafter referred to as Zhuantang Street) in Xihu District will be rated as a pilot construction of "Provincial Low (Zero) Carbon Township (Street)" in 2023. Taking this as an opportunity, the West Lake Ecology and Environment Branch actively organized and explored the verification and certification of the carbon footprint of West Lake Longjing, led the quantification of carbon emissions in the whole life cycle of agricultural products, and promoted the leap of the industrial pattern oriented by pollution reduction, carbon reduction and efficiency improvement.

Carbon labeling is a form of marking the greenhouse gas emissions generated by commodities in the process of production and operation. Taking Longjing Tea Garden in Zhuantang Street, West Lake District as an example, from the five stages of tea garden management, tea production, distribution and transportation, packaging and waste disposal, the greenhouse gas emissions of one kilogram of West Lake Longjing tea in the "whole life cycle" are 20.446 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is about 2 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilogram compared with the traditional tea planting model.

In the planting process of West Lake Longjing, measures to reduce pollution and carbon emissions have been promoted, which have effectively reduced pollutant emissions and reduced the carbon footprint of products. The promotion of the use of solar insecticidal lamps in tea gardens not only effectively reduces the use of pesticides, but also saves more than 10,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity and reduces carbon emissions by more than 10 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent every year. In order to replace chemical fertilizers, the Xihu District Agriculture and Rural Bureau distributed rapeseed cake organic fertilizer to tea farmers free of charge, accounting for nearly 1,000 tons of carbon dioxide distribution in 2023, reducing carbon emissions by more than 180 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent throughout the year. In the past, tea farmers generally burned tea stems on the spot, but in recent years, through the integration of the ban on the burning of tea stems, the tea stems and other wastes have been collected and transported in a unified manner and disposed of as mushroom growth bases. It has been calculated that this avoids air pollution and reduces direct greenhouse gas emissions by 972 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent compared to direct incineration.

There are 1,118 acres of tea plantations in Shangchengdai Village, Zhuantang Street, which is recognized by Zhejiang Province and Hangzhou City as the West Lake Longjing Tea Protection Base. ”

For example, the simplified packaging of West Lake Longjing kraft paper is quite popular with consumers. Replacing gift boxes with kraft paper packaging is only about 13% of the carbon emissions of the former. "Kraft carton packaging reduces both carbon emissions and costs. Taking the packaging of half a kilogram of tea as an example, the cost of kraft paper packaging is 6 yuan, and the gift box packaging is more than 30 yuan. At present, about 80% of consumers choose kraft paper packaging. ”

According to reports, the price of spring tea this year is expected to be similar to last year. With the improvement of the environment of the tea village, the price and sales of tea in Shangchengdai Village have increased. In 2023, the per capita income of the village will be 60,000 yuan, and the collective income of the village will be about 4 million yuan, both of which have increased compared with a few years ago.

The "carbon" benefits of the West Lake Longjing tea producing area do not stop there. Deepen the integration of tea and tourism, help rural revitalization, stand at the forefront of the tide in the waves of common prosperity, and move forward with "green".

Continuous ecological tea plantations, exquisite country houses, sparkling reservoirs...... In Shangchengdai, Waitongwu and other tea producing areas, many tourists wander among the tea mountains, picking tea, roasting tea, enjoying the scenery, tasting tea, and the emerging industries featuring tea mountain homestays and cultural tourism are thriving. The economic and environmental benefits have been improved, and Waitongwu has added a "national brand" business card, becoming the first batch of "one county, one product" characteristic cultural and art villages in the country. In 2023, Longwu Tea Town will receive a total of 4.668 million tourists, achieve tourism income of 379 million yuan, and drive the sales of agricultural products by 231 million yuan.

With the carbon label on West Lake Longjing as a new starting point, West Lake District will continue to seize the opportunity of "double carbon", promote the construction of low-carbon agricultural ecology and common prosperity, advocate low-carbon green production and lifestyle throughout the life cycle, cultivate new kinetic energy and new advantages for the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and serve the collective income increase of tea farmers and villages, the vigorous development of the cultural and tourism industry in tea villages and the gorgeous butterfly changes of beautiful villages with the actual results of high-level protection of the ecological environment, and broaden the new path of industrial integration and development.