nnoble you are even weirder than I am.
Hate that reaper.
Peter: no point in giving up.

All expected nnoble

@ Alien

Not about giving up, more about survival.

>> At home, for personal use I've used one single set of wooden chopsticks in China since first living in Guizhou 15 years ago.

Sick!

@ Asatiricalbloke
you can call it "bias" but it is really happening,ozone layer is healing, this is science.
It is due to the long-term effect of the Montreal protocol that reduced the greenhouse gas emissions,and the agreement was reached thanks to the media attention to this issue that means also thanks to population participation and activism.

@ misfit,

I think you've conflated the two points of my previous post. I did not mean to say your particular citation was biased, quite the contrary. By biased, I was referring to the article on ecopedia cited by the OP specifically, and a lot of the articles on the internet generally.

As I have pointed out in the second half of my previous post, the healing of the ozone layer was due to the efforts of world governments which was partly influence by social activism and by politicians' selfish interest to stay in power. In other words, it took the action of governments and not simply the spread by world of mouth the dangers of a depleted ozone layer to address the problem.

Politicians in all countries will not take action unless it is in their immediate self-interest of self preservation or personal gain. For democratic societies, social activism has much more influence on politicians than in more autocratic ones because elections can be influenced. In autocratic societies, social pressures must be exerted for a longer period of time and need to have much more weight for the threshold of pain of the politicians is the fear of social upheaval and revolution.

Regardless of the type political structure, to effect change requires sustained action, focus on practical solutions, and be of consequential substance.

If the OP truly cares about deforestation and/or waste (which are two separate issues requiring different solutions and focus), he/she would really need to do more than just press a few keystrokes on the keyboard. Somehow I doubt he/she is hitting the pavement raising the issue among Kunming residents, or in the very least, leading by example in cutting down on the usage of disposable products and wood products.

I don't need to be told what to do by someone whom found his or her new cause only five minutes ago, on how to conform to his or her new-found world view without them first introspectively pondering their past actions and formulating an action plan from that moment on. I suppose it is that Johnny-come-lately nature of the post the chaffed me.

I am familiar with the argument of that we have to start somewhere (here's looking at you, Alien), and that we need to start small and work our way up. However, when it comes to social issues, especially complex ones, that approach is being penny wise and pound foolish. It breeds complacency by providing a sense of accomplishment when in reality, not much has been done.

Look at the issue of racism and xenophobia in America and the EU. By solving small problems and taking baby steps of integration without address the problem of regional identity, the EU is now fractured with Brixit and talks of other nations pointing fingers and threatening exit themselves. In America, it took two momentous events to address the issue of racism, the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement, even then compromises were made that resulted in the issue not being fully resolved, they were not ready to sacrifice what was needed to fully change social attitudes toward race.

Again, I digress.

satirical,
no, i don't always do it myself and i don't "hit the pavement". although I believe there was a British woman in China who was hitting the pavement with this.
don't bother if you think it's not worth the effort, it's only a drop in the ocean, and we're all doomed and the world will end anyway.

that's all.

dolphin,

On the contrary, I'm actually an optimist, just a cautious one. My diatribe isn't meant to dampen the zeal but rather to point out what is needed to be done if one is truly sincere regarding this concern.

As you have admitted, this is only of an passing concern and your impact on this issue will have the same weight as an electron. However, by having this dialogue, I am hoping that some anonymous reader will internalize this debate and make a commitment to take concrete actions that he otherwise might not have.

A misplaced effort is worse than having no effort at all.

satirical,
i see you are underestimating the real

meaning of drops in the ocean.
It is not about summing up electrons but more about the educational message for the new generations.

What may be impossible to reach now can be done in the future thanks to the effort of bringing awareness today.

With a small baby in the house, we find home delivery of food a big convenience, and end up with quite some disposable chopsticks that way.

I have understood that it is possible to ask to not include chopsticks in the deliveries, but either we often forget it or the stores ignore the request.

Anyway, what I do with the extra chopsticks, is store them unused and once the kid is older I will let him play and build something of them.