Chopping down ancient forests for disposable chopsticks

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
1

How do you feel about the environmental impact of using disposable chopsticks?

  • I don’t believe it’s a problem at all.
  • I believe it is a problem but I don’t feel like doing anything about it.
  • I believe it’s a problem and that’s why I bring my own chopsticks with me instead of using disposables.
  • I’ve been feeling guilty and intend to use reusables more in the future.
  • The issue never occurred to me (never heard of it) before, but now that you mention it I intend to use reusables more.
0 voters

Where I lived back home, lots of people biked instead of driving, packed their groceries into a reusable bag and had the motto “reduce, reuse, recycle” committed to memory. It was also well known in such circles that the use of disposable chopsticks is seriously deforesting the earth and any decent person should use reusable chopsticks. . . or at least tell other people they should. That was widely known. So I’m a little surprised that no one has mentioned the subject on forumosa.

Were you aware of these types of stories:

motherjones.com/news/outfron … liner.html

[quote]It was only in the mid-1980s that disposable chopsticks, mass- produced from birch or poplar, appeared in China, long after Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong had begun using them. The Chinese government promoted their use to fight communicable disease and, at one point, required restaurants in various cities to use them.

The chopsticks gained in popularity as market reforms fueled an economic boom in China. Higher incomes and busier lifestyles meant more people eating out, more restaurants – and more chopsticks. The reforms also spurred millions of peasants to move to the cities; these migrants often survive on take-out meals sold in Styrofoam boxes – each with a pair of one-time chopsticks.

China now produces and discards more than 45 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks every year, cutting down as many as 25 million trees in the process, according to government statistics. Another 15 billion pairs are exported to Japan, South Korea and other countries. At the current rate of timber use, environmentalists warn, China will consume its remaining forests in about a decade.[/quote]
hartford-hwp.com/archives/55/222.html

forests.org/archive/asia/shbanson.htm

[quote]Every second, a football field sized chunk of lush tropical rainforest is gone forever. Every year, we lose another 20 million acres. . .

The United States is the world’s number one importer of processed tropical timber. We see teak, mahogany, and other rainforest hardwoods almost every day in doors, tables, desks, bookshelves, disposable chopsticks, houses and sometimes even our paper. The developed world’s huge demand for exotic timber is wiping out tropical rainforests all over the world.[/quote]
yesworld.org/info/rainforest.htm

How do you feel about disposable chopsticks?

2

what are the ones we use here in taiwan made of?

3

I don’t know (and I too am curious) but I should also mention this other issue:

[quote]Many disposable chopsticks contain high amounts of sulfur dioxide, and chopstick packaging often contains high levels of flourescent material, according to an inspection conducted by the Consumers’ Foundation.

The inspection was conducted by the foundation from late June to early July and a second round was held at the beginning of last month targeting disposable chopstick manufacturers, convenience stores and supermarkets.

According to the foundation, of 37 chopsticks samples taken, 10 pairs had high amounts of sulfur dioxide, though they were still within regulated limits.

Disposable chopstick manufacturers often use sulfite to prevent the wooden chopsticks from becoming yellow, black or moldy. However, consuming too much sulfite may cause diarrhea and vomiting.

The amount of lead found on the plastic packaging of some chopsticks was over the regulated 100ppm. Lead, once inside the body, affects the blood circulation and nervous systems and with children, lead is also linked to retardation and hyperactivity.

The paper packaging was found to contain fluorescent material that may be harmful.[/quote]
taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/ … 4915/print

4

typically made of bamboo or composite pressed wood scraps. as bamboo is not naturally pearly white(neither are your teeth) disposable chopsticks are often treated with bleaching agents to make them more ‘appealing.’ bleaching does help reduce the chance of chopsticks growing mold in storage. its not healthy to use chopsticks that contain too much bleach, could u imagine if you dipped your dinner knife and fork into a small container of weak bleach solution after every few bites?

5

A lot of my collegues now carry their own reusable chopsticks with them when going out to eat. I assure you their primary concern is not for the environment, though. There was a news story a while back about the bleach and other chemicals that are used when making the disposable chipsticks. Either way, using reusable chopsticks is a good thing.

6

if you’re talking about the “one use”, disposable type chopsticks, the vast majority of disposable chopsticks that I’ve seen used across Asia are made from bamboo… reason being they are provided “free” and therefore are made of the cheapest possible material available…

since bamboo is the fastest growing plant on earth I don’t see any issues at all regarding the impact of bamboo disposable chopsticks in terms of de-forestation… however in terms of general pollution, secondary pollution from bleaching, health risks etc. there’s a lot that can be done…

the better quality type that can be used many times before they are discarded are more often made of better quality woods, although there are also many that are made of bamboo… this type may have more impact on de-forestation, but since they are many times the price of the bamboo “one use” type people tend to hang onto them as long as possible…

No matter how you look at it I think that in terms of deforestation chopsticks pale in significance when compared to paper wastage… Every week I have a box piled full of unsolicited junk advertising for housing complexes, supermarkets, loan sharks, tea shops etc. all printed on quality glossy paper, all of which amount to just throwing money and natural resources down the drain with a good measure of toxic pollutants to boot…

:noway:

7

i believe though hillside clearing for the purpose of bamboo cultivation is an issue.

8

Made from bamboo. Bamboo is a renewable resource.
The bleaching thing does cause Mrs. Cowboy a bit of concern. I tell her we don’t chew on them.
Personally I prefer reusable platic ones. Easier to make sure they are sanitary.

9

Well, I think we all know which are bamboo (the ones you have to do that funky removing the strands manoevre that stops you geting AIDs) and which are wood (the generally flatter ones that make that nice snap when you break them apart), and I’m 100 sure the wooden ones are not re-used not even once.

HG

10

I’ve been told (as many good BS stories start) that it is common practice for local shop owners to “recycle” the used wooden chopsticks. Some vendor picks up the used sticks, recycles them with some chemical cleaning process, and resells them.

I’ve been hoping this was an urban legend. Does anyone know for sure?

11

A football field every second? Come on, what are they doing, nuking the forests?

12

the one’s that “make the nice snap” when you pull them apart are bamboo too, not hard wood… made from the thicker sections of the base of older bamboo plants, you can tell by the cylindrical grain… only expensive, reusable chopsticks are made from hard woods… as if the fried rice guy’s going to absorb a NT$50 per customer hard wood chopstick overhead…

All these commonly used types are bamboo, as are many others… ----------- These are hardwood, big difference…
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13

Yes, this is my impression too. And while I’m normally on the side of the environmentalists on issues like this, bamboo is such a rapidly growing grass, and so ubiquitous in China, that I’m not really yet convinced about the seriousness of this particular issue. Do we have specific evidence that the clearing of bamboo forests (rather than forests in general) is causing problems? Where, and what kinds of problems? If so, why is the rapid regrowth rate of bamboo not ameliorating the problem? I suspect that where clearing of bamboo forests is causing problems, it is not the clearing for chopstick production, but rather the clearing for agricultural use, which deprives wildlife of habitat. However, I’d like to see the evidence.

14

Stand corrected.

Many thanks and a tad relieved.

HG

15

There is NO WAY that I am really the only dirty hippie who carries her own sticks…

16

[quote=“seeker4”]I’ve been told (as many good BS stories start) that it is common practice for local shop owners to “recycle” the used wooden chopsticks. Some vendor picks up the used sticks, recycles them with some chemical cleaning process, and resells them.

I’ve been hoping this was an urban legend. Does anyone know for sure?[/quote]
Dude, if they are cleaned why does this matter? I mean you go to places in the US and eat with the same fork that everyone and their dad ate with, so who cares? Japanese places in the US use reusable chopsticks. They just wash them. So what is the problem with reusing CLEANED “disposable” chopsticks?

17

The only ones I see around that aren’t made of bamboo are the ones they give you in the convenience store. They’re made of aspen or poplar or some such thing.
If you’re concerned about the bleaching agent, you can drop them in boiling water for a few seconds, which dissolves the chemical.
I don’t use them any more though. I got a freebie from Aveda that’s a trendy little cloth roll containing a pair of hardwood sticks and a cute wooden spoon and fork. It makes me feel like a real lady when I use it.

18

[quote=“sandman”]The only ones I see around that aren’t made of bamboo are the ones they give you in the convenience store. They’re made of aspen or poplar or some such thing.
If you’re concerned about the bleaching agent, you can drop them in boiling water for a few seconds, which dissolves the chemical.
I don’t use them any more though. I got a freebie from Aveda that’s a trendy little cloth roll containing a pair of hardwood sticks and a cute wooden spoon and fork. It makes me feel like a real lady when I use it.[/quote]
How cute! I should go look for that. I have the metal korean kind. I get made fun of alot…

19

You can’t make chopsticks out of bamboo, bamboo shoots are too big for even my hands. And trees would be way too heavy.

20

Dudette:
m-w.com/dictionary/porous
m-w.com/dictionary/toxic
m-w.com/dictionary/gross