I don’t drink much tea or coffee to confess outright.  It used to be one cup of either in the morning and one cup in the afternoon for a long time.  Then I started to feel dissatisfied and started to have more tea but it was never enough.  As I buy the best quality organic tea and coffee- loose tea and coffee beans- it was also quite an expensive habit. Again, I had to go and get these products from specific shops, so there was the additional time/cost element to it.  I was suffering from poor sleep as well- perhaps even that little bit more caffeine was bad for me?  So I thought- is a there a way of cutting down on these?  Again, going back to the three basic points of sustainability- could I save money, save the environment and save my own health? I also wanted to do this in a pain free way because I know if you are deprived of something, you crave it.

I had read about the Konmari method sometime back when her books came out.  Something seemed to resonate in that and I thought of trying to drink out of cups that I really loved. I got rid of cups I didn’t like and got out two that I really liked.  One was a charity shop find while the other was found on the street- perhaps someone else did not like it!

I had stored both cups away- always for a good time, for another time.  Yet, time was passing me by while I was drinking out of cups that I didn’t like and not enjoying the drinks either.  I had in the past, tried drinking out of other smaller cups but didn’t like them.   To my surprise I found that by drinking out of these cups, not only was I drinking less but also enjoying drinking the tea and coffee, so much that I didn’t need another cuppa.  It is the same tea and coffee but tastes so much nicer- I wonder of the spark of joy that Konmari often talks about can be had in drinks as well.  I have also changed to eating out of plates that I love and I have found that I eat less as a result and enjoy my food more!  Imagine if people who wanted to lose weight tried to eat out of plates they loved- they’d eat less simply by eating with joy out of a plate they loved. Or if someone wanted to reduce alcohol consumption, and they drank out of a well loved glass (I don’t know- might work!)  Also, I reduced my waste as I made less tea and coffee, and drank all of it.

Visiting a tea estate brought upon me the hardship that the women who pick tea leaves for us go through- they work from 7-30 in the morning to 5-30 in the evening in the baking sun or rain.  Sipping tea now makes me really grateful for this work that these women do and makes tea drinking time very precious.  I drink less of it naturally as I enjoy it more.  Also, as a side benefit, my teeth which had become stained are now shining again like pearls!

If you should try this method, please do let me know in the comments below if this worked for you- many thanks!