Disposable Chopsticks & Convenience Stores

The Taiwan News reports that the Environmental Protection Administration is urging the public to stop using disposable chopsticks, so as to reduce the volume of disposable eating utensils:

According to EPA Minister Stephen Shu-hung Shen, the administration is suggesting that individuals take their own reusable chopsticks when eating out, and that workers, who constitute a major consumer group at convenience stores, take non-disposable chopsticks to their workplaces.

Shen said the Taiwan public uses 5 billion disposable chopsticks per year, with the largest number dispensed at convenience stores.

In its bid to reduce the volume of disposable utensils, the EPA plans to meet with convenience store operators in June to discuss the possibility of discontinuing the practice of providing customers with disposable eating utensils, Shen said.

According to the article, if a restaurant provides 100 pairs of disposable chopsticks per day to its customers, it generates 12 kilos of trash. The article also quotes a lady who says firms giving "environmentally friendly chopsticks" to their employees are frequently wasting resources, as often those chopsticks are not used.

It takes a while to kick the habit of disposable chopsticks. Remembering to take them with you every time you go out is the first step; then you need to remember to use them. Now, after a few months of trying, I get it right about 80 percent of the time.

The bring-your-own-chopsticks movement is nothing new, of course. This article has a great photo of a truckload of used sticks awaiting disposal...