BEIJING -- China's growing environmental consciousness has hit the heart of its culture, with the government yesterday announcing a 5 percent tax on disposable wooden chopsticks.

The Finance Ministry said chopstick production used up China's forests at a rate of 70 million cubic feet a year, a waste that it wanted to discourage.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060323-121845-3811r.htm

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

...being environmentally conscious is great...good for them...

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1995 black pearl/black Mercedes-Benz E420 :

The Chinese should just use non disposable plastic or whatever chopsticks and we need to use non disposable permanent grocery bags.

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1985 CA 300D Turbo , 213K mi

.....'bout time they switched to forks.

With all due respect to other cultures, this was my thought exactly. Or at least cool aluminum chopsticks.

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

In korea most restaurants have metal chopsticks, but they still use wood for take out, etc. It makes you wonder what is worse, using all the wood for biodegradable throw away chopsticks, or making throw away utensils out of plastic, like the fork/knife set KFC gives away with takeout, even though the food is supposed to be finger licking good. At least fingers are still environmentally friendly.

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Jason Priest
1999 E430
1995 E420 - retired
1986 420SEL - retired

Damn, I hope they don't start taking away toothpicks and pencils.

Might as well stock up on toilet paper too

Trees grow back, I promise...
~Nate

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95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

i guess you dont know about the tree sea shells

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have no worries.....President Obama swears "If you like your gun, you can keep it

Do you get those when you buy a brand spankin new Olds 442

By the way only the cheap restaurants use the wooden ones, go to a nice place and there are reusable bakelite like chopsticks.

I use reusable chopsticks when at home.

Bamboo ones are probably the best way to go. Cheap, durable and replenishable faster than any tree can grow. My parents have some that are 20+ years old.

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1974 240D 3.0L 4(M) - 250K -OM617.910 + 300D FW + Rajay turbo power!
1977 6.9 3(A) - 84k

Jeez, I want a bidet. They have some toilet seats now that upgrade your toilet to an auxillary bidet. Haven't tried one yet, but I'm thinking I might be able to morph my half-fast plumber behind into a bidet seat installer -- for a handsome fee, of course. Anything to do with toilets has a "nasty" premium included.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Yes they grow back, but do they grow back fast enough to keep up with our ravenous consumption is the question. I've heard horror stories about the kind of acreage that is devoted to disposable chopsticks.

Up in Okanogan county Washington (God's country), a few years back some firm from Taiwan, I think, was proposing a chopstick factory that would employ people!!! Oh boy, let's give them anything they want -- they're bringing jobs up hyeah!

Then folks got wind that they would need to cut down just about every last alder or cottonwood in the county to make a go of it. That country is somewhat arid -- some evergreens at higher altitudes -- but trees are sparse all in all. In the folds of hills and small valleys -- wherever there's groundwater -- you can see the golden leaves of those trees in small stands here and there in the fall. Thank God people woke up to the folly of that idea. The place would have been way poorer with those trees getting chopped down wholesale. And who knows what it would have done to groundwater and wildlife. And all for Chinese fast food.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Can't they grind chopsticks into pulp or something and then recycle them as cardboard or other paper products? I hope China has properly assessed the risks of disease when deciding on imposing a tax on chopsticks...having traveled in that region, all I can say is that the small foodstands that usually use these disposable chopsticks aren't equipped and most likely will never be properly equipped to wash reusable chopsticks, bowls, etc. properly...I have a feeling that after a few people who have eaten at a night market contracts diseases and dies because of improperly washed utensils, the entire idea will more or less fade away...but I guess if the food at the night market doesn't kill you, dirty utensils most likely won't either...for anybody travelling to Asia, although it is fun to eat at the eateries with the locals, your stomachs will NOT handle it...be prepared to be sitting on your hotel room toilet for the remainer of the trip...

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1995 black pearl/black Mercedes-Benz E420 :

The issue here is the disposable chopsticks that we used in the Chinese take-outs or restaurants. A large portion of those made in China are exported overseas. Using disposable forks is not solving the problem as plastic forks cost more to manufacture, and also bad for the environment. China is not as advance as many Western countries in recycling. I think this law will push the Chinese into sustainable agriculture, such as tree and bamboo farms. Sustainable bamboo has already being used to make chopsticks, but they still cost more than the wooden ones. I sure hope this law do not push the Chinese to look for resources elsewhere (other countries), and deplete the forest there. It is time the Chinese learn to look beyond their borders, and learn to be a good neighbor. It is sad to see many emerging industrial countries facing the pollution consequences they could have avoided if only they look at history and learn. It is better and easier to take care of the problem before it occurs than to do the opposite.

Note my post #13 above. They're already looking for forests abroad. A good solution would be not to provide chopsticks at all but require that people carry their own washable chopsticks. People would *****, but they might ***** more eventually about rampaging deserts (already a problem in China) and reduced rainfall that are consequences of deforestation.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K