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Disposable chopsticks bad for nature

dolphin (509 posts) • -1

Please carry chopsticks with you when you eat out and let's stop this useless waste!

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www.ecopedia.com/[...]

How Wooden Chopsticks Are Killing Nature

In China, about 57 billion (that’s “billion”!) pairs of wooden disposable chopsticks are made each year.

Globally, about 1.4 billion people throw away 80 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks each year

The impact of so many discarded chopsticks is of course unsustainable. With China now the world’s largest importer of wood, governmental organizations are aware that the nation cannot sustain the level of deforestation needed to manufacture so many throwaway products.

“We must change our consumption habits and encourage people to carry their own tableware,” said Bo Guangxin recently at a gathering of China’s National People’s Congress. The chairman of Jilin Forestry Industry Group noted that only 4,000 chopsticks can be created from a 20-year-old tree, 2 million of which were being cut down each year to produce them.

Dazzer (2813 posts) • +2

old news, china had a big thing about this maybe 6-7 years ago. 'at a recent conference' in an article over 4 years old, and still nothing has changed. it is not the impact of the discarded chopstick that is the problem. it is the waste caused by the disposable nature of cut and paste from other sources

ASatiricalBloke (103 posts) • 0

Yes, I care too! But why stop at bringing your own chopsticks? We should also bring our own plates and bowls, and stop using paper napkins, we should all carry with us an old-fashioned handkerchief.

Speaking of napkins, do you know how many trees are cut down each year to make tissues and toilet paper? We should all do like the Indians and wipe ourselves with fingers then proceed to wash the hand, just remember to dedicate a hand for this function, left for wiping, right for eating.

If we can get the entire expat community to adhere to this policy, we can start a movement.

;)

Liumingke1234 (3297 posts) • 0

Ha.Ha. It's a start when they started requiring that you bring your own bag at the supermarkets and shops to carry your stuff. Things like this really do make a different however small.

Dazzer (2813 posts) • +2

i start a movement every morning, right after my cup of coffee. i usally finish after i have checked the news headlines online.

GoK Moderator (5096 posts) • +2

I think the government attempted to control the use of disposable chopsticks. However, with the perceived very high rates of hepatitis in China, this was a non starter. Although you cannot catch HepB from tableware, the general perception in China is that you can. Perceptions overrule facts most of the time, for most people, in every part of the world.

dolphin (509 posts) • -1

Satirical,

Bowls and cups are reused in restaurants.

Starbucks had a "War on Waste Bring Your Own Cup" discount ... Napkins ... well ... not sure about that one.

For supermarkets, I load the groceries up in my backpack.

For bum-bums, there are bidets instead of toilet paper ... but I admit I haven't gone through the trouble of installing one ... or just use leaves that have fallen from trees in the autumn (just kidding!).

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