Pure Ceylon tea is one of the most renowned generic tea brands which has got more than 150 years of history. Due to it’s well balanced tasting profile and ethical back-ground, Ceylon tea has been able to penetrate to each and every corn in the world during this short period of time. Ozone friendly status for pure Ceylon tea is one of the greatest achievements in the recent past.

Ozone is a gas, a special type of oxygen molecule made up of three atoms instead of two. The ozone layer, high up in Earth’s atmosphere, contains large amounts of this gas, which acts as a barrier to ultraviolet (UV) light and other forms of high-energy radiation reaching Earth’s surface from the Sun and elsewhere.

Alarmed by warnings from the scientists, the world’s nations met in Montreal, Canada in 1987 to decide upon action to protect this layer. Out of this meeting came the Montreal Protocol, signed by 191 countries including Sri Lanka. Under the protocol, methyl bromide use by the Sri Lankan tea industry was progressively reduced, then done away with altogether. As a result of such prompt and effective action by the tea industry and others, Sri Lanka was acclaimed a ‘leader in ozone-layer protection’, receiving the Montreal Protocol Implementers Award in 2007.

All tea grown in Sri Lanka is now one hundred percent ozone-friendly. This is a distinction of which no other tea-producing nation can boast. Plans are now being drawn up to impose a total ban on methyl bromide use in applications like export packaging and shipping. As of May 2011, all Ceylon Tea is entitled to bear the new ‘Ozone Friendly Pure Ceylon Tea’ logo, certifying that it has been produced without the use of any ozone-depleting substances.

Ceylon Tea cultivated and manufactured in the territory of Sri Lanka without the use of Methyl Bromide (MeBr) or any other Ozone Depletion Substances is the world’s first to achieve the “Ozone Friendly Tea” recognition under the Montréal Protocol Treaty and is registered as a Certification Mark by Sri Lanka Tea Board. MeBr is used as a nematicide. This releases Bromine gas which harms the layer. This chemical has been banned to use for commercial tea cultivation in Sri Lanka. Few years back it was allowed to use for soil fumigation at tea nurseries. In the later part of 2010, I had the opportunity practice this soil fumigation activity at Glen Alpin estate, Uva region, Sri Lanka as a part of my creeper training. But currently, MeBr is not allowed for any field activity.

When you reach for a cup of Ceylon Tea, you’re not just refreshing yourself; you’re also helping refresh and renew an environmental resource critically important to all life on Earth.

Read More: http://www.pureceylontea.com/index.php/features/ceylon-tea-and-the-environment/ozone-friendly-story