dolphin,

Not sure which restaurants you are frequenting but most restaurants that I dine in, if not all, only provide disposable dining-ware when you order take away, hence, bring your own bowl and plates.

With Starbucks, you sure that wasn't more of a PR ploy, to make yuppies "feel" like they are doing something for the environment when their very existence is adding to the pollution, all the while conveniently selling you more mugs and insulated cups in which you already have at home, which incidentally, is adding more to the pollution?

For supermarkets, I don't think you have a choice as they don't give out plastic bags anymore. Speaking of which, most Chinese I know, reuse the plastic bags as rubbish bags at home. Once the plastic bag ban went into effect, most are now forced to purchase rubbish bags made from........PLASTIC.

Bidets are nice and all but when was the last time you saw a bidet in a public restroom? Perhaps that should the the topic of another thread?

Satire aside, I'm all for environmental protect but there is talking and there is doing. It seems to me that no one wants to do the hard things that would truly make an impact and go for the easiest-barely-make-a-dent solution instead and then proceed to pat themselves on the back for having done so.

In the article you've cited, I see nothing but scare tactics with an hidden agenda. The emphasis on billion without context is meant to sensationalize and impress upon the reader on how large this number appears when it might otherwise be normal when put into context.

2nd, by focusing on chopsticks in Asia without even mentioning the comparable disposable utensils being used in Western countries, i.e., Europe and North America, the reader is lead to believe the problem lies in a far away place instead of in one's own backyard. Further more, using the data provided in the article, the world wide average is 80 pair per person while China's is 20; Japan's is 200. I believe you'll have an easier time and make a bigger impact on the environment if you can convince a handful of Japanese to bring their own Chopsticks than to convince the entire Kunming expat community.

Anyway, I digress.

Good digression. Not good to pollute the planet, kill trees, etc.; but the serious pollution and species endangerment is carried out by a type of industrial organization that is dedicated, not to keeping the planet alive and nonpoisonous, but to making a buck.
Hard to get leverage on this, but necessary. Start with the chopsticks, if you like, but...

It's pretty depressing reading those cynical comments of people who lost their hope about everything.
When 30 years ago scientists correlated ozone hole with greenhouse gas emissions I'm sure many people had the same reaction of today's users,but now....

phys.org/news/2016-06-scientists-antarctic-ozone-layer.html

misfit, you got a point.

At home, for personal use I've used one single set of wooden chopsticks in China since first living in Guizhou 15 years ago. I use a holdall for shopping. I don't have a car. I've reduced use of printed paper by about 80% over the last few years. I could go on but I'll stop there.
Am I an environmentalist? No. Do I consider my impact on the environment day-by-day? No. Do I preach about waste? No. Reason for all these 'no' responses is because I'm a lot of things but I do try and avoid being a hypocrite. Non of the seemingly environmentally friendly things I mentioned above have had anything to do with my conscious concern for the environment. When I first arrived in China I found that I could use a thickish, square ended wooden chopstick easier than any other and I have never found a pair to replace them. A holdall is simply more convenient than multiple plastic bags. Buses and two legs are more convenient than a private car in Kunming which is getting close to gridlock. 80% reduction in printed paper was because I was drowning in the stuff and using a combination of online files, iPad + Apple pencil and the good Chinese 'Intranet' I found I could get materials to students more conveniently and avoid the clutter at home - they generally only have small smartphones so they often print the material themselves. I can be accused of a lot of things but unlike Bo Guangxin and Starbucks, one thing I do try and avoid is being a hypocrite. The former is a mouthpiece of propaganda for the government who in turn plant trees here while turning a blind eye to de-nuding Myanmar. Starbucks.......ha! The government and Party have usurped civil society here and by doing so they've made themselves responsible for almost everything. If they want to fix this they can (plastic bags) but the congress is a talking shop just like Starbucks propaganda. If you want to effect change go and demonstrate because words here are two a penny. The entire subject of environmental activism and concern is riddled with hypocrisy, either blatant or unintentional, because individuals pick on their pet cause and run with it. My guess is that a fresh pair of eyes on your activities would unveil evidence of unintentional hypocrisy. Here, you need to go and lobby the government to affect real change and good luck with that. But why pick on this society and this government - was everything a green utopia where you come from?

I think it is even more depressing that people think they've done something good for the environment just by spreading *biased* and incomplete information without further effort or action on their part. To me, that is just an ant's hair above doing nothing.

Not to toot my own horn but to demonstrate that I do care about the environment, I walk or take the bus 95% of the time, I almost never use a taxi; I collect the water that is run off in order to get the hot water for a shower to be use for the toilet, I use the bath water on the occasions that I need a good soak to do the first cycle of the laundry. I would love to collect rainwater for my balcony garden if wasn't living in a hi-rise so I use the water changes from my fish tank instead. I've been using a backpack to carry my purchases long before the plastic bag ban was put in place. These are just some of the things I do consciously to cut down on waste. Do I think my actions make a difference? No, but I do it regardless because I get gratification from the placebo effect. I, however, do not tell people to do those things because I know for all practical purposes, it's pointless.

In regards to the ozone layer, so despite cynical people 30 years ago, the ozone managed to reverse course, and why was that? Because to effect lasting social change, the government would have to be the driving force behind it. I'm sure the reverse trend didn't happen because word of mouth caused everyone to stop using ozone depleting gasses. It took laws enacted by various governments to make a difference. If the OP is really concerned about the useless waste, he/she should be inquiring on how to petition the Chinese government, local or nation.

To play on people's conscience into taking action is like shooing a bear from your rubbish bin with a bb gun, you're just going to make them annoyed and angry, good intentions or not.

I am not advocating that we don't take action as I do believe in the power and the voice of one individual, but that voice has to be placed in the right ear, at the right time and not randomly shouting into the streets raising alarm.

It's one thing to have a dialogue on the merits of conservation and environmental protection, it is another to tell people to take action based on your own personal beliefs of the moment.

OK, but it's something else again to do nothing. But I understand the placebo effect too, and it is to be avoided. Feeling good about yourself is fine, but it doesn't mean you are a 'good person', vis-a-vis anybody else. Everybody is part of the cosmix, and the cosmix obviously isn't what it ought to be.
Sorry, I was trying for too much wisdom there.

If doing nothing is something else, then doing nothing is actually something because as you say ‘it is’. But if doing something like nothing is not enough then I can think of only one thing. You and I might be around the same age. Given that population is a contributing factor then doing ‘nothing’ in bed would result in ‘nothing’ in which a positive result could have been achieved in this selfless act of inaction. However, if it is not possible to achieve this illusive something by this act of doing nothing then it may still be possible to affect demographics.

You go first. If this particular selfless act of doing something achieves something more than nothing then I will monitor the data and if there is sufficient correlation between your act of doing something is positive then I will follow but first, we must ensure our remains are disposed of in an environmentally friendly way.

Heres the doomsday declaration.

Look at this global overpopulation going on, theres no way any cotton bag or bamboo chopstick will fix this.

Thats from a global viewpoint. Will be all about survival for the next generation, ours could still be looking at the stars philosophying existence - will be declared vanity soon. The snowball is rolling well, no stopping of this avalanche.

@alien between us we've just invoked the Grim Reaper in-chief. It is now or never.