Chopstick Disaster

It has recently come to my attention that chopsticks are of the devil! Okay, using the devil as a reference to chopsticks may be a bit exaggerated, but there is an important point here. Chopsticks are contributing to the demise of our environment. Don’t get me wrong; I am a fan of Chinese food and Japanese food. I will even go as far as to declare Sushi as my favorite cuisine. I never pass up an opportunity to get Sushi. There is something special about the ambiance that a Sushi restaurant provides, aside from the delicious food; something of a hip, healthy, and smooth vibe. I am guilty of partaking of using chopsticks as much as anyone, if not more. In all my years of partaking of the slice of heaven referred to as Sushi, not once did I stop to think about how many chopsticks are used on a daily basis in one restaurant, let alone the world!

Take a moment to ponder the amount of chopsticks being thrown away on a daily basis in one city alone. Once you are able to wrap your mind around that, think about the amount used in one state, in one country, and then worldwide! It is not Sushi restaurants alone however; it is Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, and so on. These wooden utensils are made from trees, a resource that is being rapidly depleted. Rain forests are disappearing at an alarming rate, yet billions of chopsticks are being manufactured every day and wrapped in once again paper; another product created from trees! Although it seems like a minor offense due to the small size of chopsticks, it is a problem spanning across the world only contributing to the depletion of trees. What do we do to stop the amount of waste that wooden chopsticks create? Should we boycott going to restaurants that provide chopsticks or only use forks? Neither of those seem very fair. There is a solution however, reusable chopsticks!

Reusable chopsticks are not a difficult concept. In reality it is an environmentally friendly, financially sound, and socially acceptable solution. The sheer amounts of waste that would be saved from restaurants and individuals investing in a pair of reusable chopsticks seem logical. Restaurants would have to pay more up front to purchase reusable chopsticks, but would save money in the end. Most nice restaurants use washable napkins anyway. Why not provide reusable chopsticks wrapped in washable napkins and do our parts for the environment and save some money? We don’t have to give up our love of different cuisine, we can purchase our own chopsticks and take them with us to use if the restaurant does not provide reusable chopsticks.

Now that I have spent some time ranting and attempting to persuade people to stop using wooden chopsticks, everyone go buy a pair of reusable chopsticks, and enjoy a nice sushi roll filled with orgasmic pleasures!