Hehe, probably the worst example to prove any point is with Formosa Plastics! If there were ever an evil reincarnation of hitler but for for business, they are it.
I agree north is pretty wet for wood chopsitcks. I like stainless. Plastic is even fine if we keep using forever i suppose. Most taiwanese dont like the bamboo ones cause they are bleached supposedly for whitening but also to kill bacteria. They dont like letting them sit in their food long, and its not about the incense thing 
If they’re afraid of bleach having come in contact with something that they are going to eat with at least a hour after the bleach came in contact with it, I have a chemistry lesson for them…
I said its common, i am not commenting on if its accurate or not 
thats above my pay grade.
I know this is pumpkin spiced coffee but has anyone found any good pumpkin beer? Used to drink it by the liter back home
The only place I know of is Redpoint near Daan
Point of interest .
I found a set of chopsticks and a spoon made of PLA left in a drawer. It was probably About three years to five years old at that stage .
What was interesting was it had started to breakdown and fall apart.
Many biodegradables aren’t good, they don’t easily breakdown , but that sold me on PLA products, which Taiwan is actually a leader in.
There are so many alternatives to what is used for plastic cutlery and it’s simply a matter of businesses being stingy or lazy. At least bamboo chopsticks will breakdown so I’m OK with them.
People’s Liberation Army? 
Guy
I’ll just drop this here…
Check greenpeace and any number of other NGO on why degradable plastics arent really what people assume they are. Or testing companies that do water and soil testing. I am personally a big fan of wood and stainless chopsticks…with mold/bacteria cobcerns on the wooden ones being well known, interested to hear opinions why else they may be worse than other materials.
Often times working we just split a bamboo section and pull sone chopsticks from it right away. But industry is different and we must follow FDA and related food safety standards as businesses. Which isnt a bad idea.
On topic. I just put sone pumpkin spice into my taiwan beer. Terrible. Really do need a thick substance. Sweet/starchy/creamy is definately the go. Going to grab a bottle of baileys or kalua next time i am in a city and spike that with some pumpkin spice, should be quite right.
I’m kind of an expert on some natural products so hold the lecture about contacting Greenpeace . 
I don’t need to look up Greenpeace to know that PLA and bamboo are very biodegradable from my own observations in Taiwan’s climate unlike some other stuff that is out there. Bamboo is quite stable in dry conditions espefially if the outside is carbonised by high eat but will disintegrate after a year or so if placed in wet soil or in exposed conditions . And PLA will degrade even without being exposed to sunlight . That’s why I am sold on it…In fact other man-made plastics will degrade over time also but PLA seems to degrade more thoroughly and more quickly .
Generally the more natural stuff degrades better…Bamboo, paper , rubber, celluloid., Linen. A lot of the stuff that folks were using back earlier in the industrial age. Their actual supposed defects of not Lasting that long could make them the best choices going forward for many uses…
All this stuff needs together regulation and buyin from consumers. For instance I understand the problem of biodegradeable plastic contaminating recyclable plastic lines. This could largely be avoided if the government mandated all biodegradable plastic to be a certain colour. Regulation and enforcement is required for the greater good.
Considering less than 8% of recyclables that are sent to the recycling actually end up being recycled, I roll my eyes at this assertion. Sure, biodegradable forks in the recycling will ruin a batch, but so will a single unwashed peanut butter jar or pizza box with any grease on it at all. Here in Taiwan, people like to use A4 paper as a placemat under their greasy as heck lunch box. And then they toss it in the recycling when done, when it can’t be recycled. I’d rather biodegradable materials ruin batches.
But yes, a mandated specific color might help. Right now, you can’t tell what’s made of what. Even when properly labeled, it’s crap: My tetrapacks always remind me to “please recycle”, complete with the recycling symbol, when they are absolutely not recyclable at all. They slap recycling labels on everything and the whole system fails
I keep gently pushing my students to dig into the situation for recycling in Taiwan for a university presentation or essay. I’d love to know more about the effectiveness here, but I assume most of the information is Chinese-only. Our apartment complex keeps increasing the number and kinds of recycling bins - in one way good for them, in another, I suspect it’s all a waste.
(EDIT: Wait, this is the pumpkin spice latte thread?! Whoah. So far off-topic. Oh well.)
Wasnt tryin to lecture, sorry. But it seems you missed my point. PLA type plastics biodegrade, but thats the problem with them. They often still contain plastics, that take centryies to millenia (probably) to truly degrade. I thing.fubgal studies are quite interesting on this, but i am coming from the perspective of reality where they are dumped/washed to the ocean eventually, where soil type fubgal networks are in short supply. They just seem to get smaller and smaller to the point that filter feeders, plants etc are absorbing plastics into their bodies, and this enters the food chain in a fairly readily way if such microplastics are present in the area. And water bodies are great at dispersal. Thats what i was trying to convey, and just to get it in writing as forums are public so everyone is reading.
There is a very big difference if we are comparing say plastic chopsticks to bamboo ones. But will let the people in the industry write why the chemistry is the way it is. Thats way above my pay grade.
Ps. As always, a reply is often meant to a broader audience. Sorry if i make that confusing.with my posts. But usually when i post, its trying to be general, and the “reply” is simply just the seed that sparked tge conversation, and it will/should go off the rails a bit dont take anything personal, its still just open discussion online hence asking people to check NGO about such thuings as why biodegradable plastics are a bit of a bullshit marketing campaign. Not everyone is aware and may be making poor purchasing.choices dueto ignorance. I am guilty of this all the time and am grateful people have provided info for me to start searching deeper from.
Good conversations and true learnjg all evolve. Once it is split, let the clusterphuck.begin… i think its useful to discuss A and end up discussing B through Z. Its more beneficial to people. I learn a lot reading one thing and getting intrigued by something else in the concersation. This is something i feel should be promoted, not shied away from.
My student who is a barista at SB surprised me with a venti Pumpkin Spice iced latte in my class yesterday. Okay, that’s one way to sway me during grading…
I did find the taste is kinda different from the State though.
that student is smart to do so.
I found it’s cute for people doing so, my friend and I are always jumping from topic to topic.
What’s your opinion on mushroom based substitutes?
I see much of the recycling being burnt Ruth’s now. Since China stopped importing recycling material Taiwan has no other cost effective option.
I know next to nothing about that. Bamboo is the one I’m most familiar with. What is the mushroom substituting for ?
