Excited
Have you ever used disposable chopsticks at a Chinese or Japanese restaurant in the United States, or elsewhere? Well, you may be surprised at how large the chopstick market is. The Wall Street Journal (2/8/08) reports in “Banned in Beijing: Chinese See Green Over Chopsticks” the staggering size and environmental cost of disposable chopsticks in China:
“…Disposable chopsticks are under attack all across China. Over the past three decades, the snap-apart sticks have become a staple of hectic city life, used by everyone from migrant workers eating fish balls at street stalls to busy professionals ordering takeout sashimi. China’s disposable-chopstick factories turn out roughly 63 billion pairs each year. But to China’s growing ranks of environmentalists, the splintery sticks have become a contemptible symbol of the nation’s out-of-control consumption, as well as a threat to forests. The campaign to banish them from Chinese tables is pitting environmentalists against the nation’s booming disposable-chopstick industry, which employs more than 100,000 people. Since November, about 300 Beijing restaurants have vowed to replace disposable chopsticks with reusables. Big companies, including Microsoft, Intel Corp. and International Business Machines Corp., which already use reusables have invited Greenpeace to stage antichopstick rallies in their cafeterias. And chopsticks-bashing has become the cause du jour of some of China’s pop stars.”
The chopstick industry defends itself stating that disposable chopsticks are made from “fast-growing woods like birch, poplar and bamboo that are not endangered…and often uses leftover wood that is not suitable for other industries.”
63 billion pairs of chopsticks – that’s a lot of chopsticks! And I cannot even imagine 100,000 Chinese being employed to manufacture those disposable chopsticks. Are the chopsticks manually carved? Pretty amazing amount of waste when you think about all those chopsticks being thrown away – at least I hope they are biodegradeable. The article goes on to describe the “B.Y.O.C.” – Bring Your Own Chopstick push by activists, promoting the idea of carrying around your own pair of chopsticks to use, wash, and re-use. So for those of you who are environmentally conscious, the next time you go out to dine for Chinese or Japanese, perhaps you should think about bringing your own pair of chopsticks?
How does this post make you feel?
- Fascinated
- Amused
- Bored
- Sad
- Angry
NOTE: 8Asians.com is a community, and we thank you for being a part of it. While we welcome and appreciate differences in opinion, if you're rude or you're promoting spam, we have a right to edit or delete your comment. Read our comment policy for more information.
If you see a comment that violates the 8Asians.com comment policy, you may flag the comment by mousing over the comment and clicking "FLAG."
Taiwan is totally ahead of the curve on this. It has been BYOC for years and they also encourage people to bring their own bags to reduce wasting plastic bags. They don't even serve hot soups/liquids in styrofoam anymore!
Taiwan is totally ahead of the curve on this. It has been BYOC for years and they also encourage people to bring their own bags to reduce wasting plastic bags. They don't even serve hot soups/liquids in styrofoam anymore!
Trackbacks
Custom Search
Recent Posts
- Chinese New Year Lanterns
- Is Kim Jong Un Dead? Assassination Rumors Hit the Internet
- Help Fight Stereoptypes With Asian Crew Clothing
- Deftones’ Chi Cheng Wakes Up From His 3-Year Coma
- SXSW 2012 Has a Nice Handful of Asian Movies
- Woman In China Gives Birth To 15 Lb Baby
- Naruto & Dragonball Now Available On Barnes & Noble Nook
Recent Comments
- : while it was pretty hilarious, it's a little disconcerting that most of the people who responded didn't use spellcheck. – What I Learned From Posting A Dragon Lady Personal Ad
- : @dcj125 Riiiiiiiiight.... cuz that's exactly what I meant with my comment. – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
- : Why does Gawker seem to think that random Chinese citizens would know what's going on in North Korea? Seems kind of ignorant. – Is Kim Jong Un Dead? Assassination Rumors Hit the Internet
- : I'm only familiar enough on this issue with the Chinese communities in the Northeast so I can only speak to those. Along the I95 corridor... – Bonnie Tsui & “The Changing Face of America’s Chinatowns”
- : No one should ever feel "bound by the shackles of" their own heritage/culture. To feel burdened by your roots is to have the wrong attitude... – White Tigers: Being Caught Between Western And Asian Cultures
APA Events
Feb 16: Adam WarRock and Kirby Krackle: West Cost Tour Dates!!!
Feb 16: (New York, NY) Amar Chitra Katha: Monica Ferrell, Chitra Ganesh, Keshni Kashyap, and Himanshu “Heems” Suri of Das Racist
Feb 17: (Los Angeles, CA) All My Sons
Feb 18: (Stanford, CA) Stanford’s 16th Listen to the Silence Conference- Feb 18: (San Francisco, CA) NAAAP-SF Lunar New Year Gala 2012
Feb 25: (Los Angeles, CA) Past Present I Future Imperatives: Queer Space Time
Mar 3: (New York, NY) Vong Pak’s ‘Electric Shaman’ Concert
Apr 30: (Sacramento, CA) California Asian Pacific Islander Policy Summit 2012: iAdvocate
Staff and Contributors
- Editors
- Ernie Hsiung - Founder, Editor-in-Chief
- Moye Ishimoto - Co-Editor, Editorial
- Joz Wang - Co-Editor, PR & APA Outreach
[...] I found this article from 8Asians.com. Because I like to credit my sources when I [...]