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For one-off chopsticks the bell tolls
Mar 12, 2008 03:56
guestchopstick
China has long been building a society of sustainable development, but there have been stumblestones to achieve that goal. A Chinese netizen says that China currently is a throw-away society. It is far from a sustainable society. Based on approximate estimate, China has to cut millions of trees to serve as “one-off chopsticks”.

Good news: over 300 restaurants have made up their minds to stop the consumption of one-off chopsticks within six months. Some residents in Beijing are optimist about the prospect of prohibiting the consumption of one-off chopsticks. They view the message as the toll sound for one-off chopsticks. Othersa are still pessimistic about the prospect. They worry that there is still a huge demand for one-off chopsticks in China. It will be a tough task. One-off chopsticks should be prohibited immediately or not? Hopefully, for one-off chopsticks the bell tolls!
Mar 13, 2008 04:22
#1  
GUEST1312 It is high time to abandon the one-off chopsticks. Other Chinese cities should follow the example.
Mar 14, 2008 00:15
#2  
  • GRIZ326
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Are one-off chopsticks ... unique, custom-made chopsticks?

Or are one-off chopsticks what we call "disposable?"
Mar 15, 2008 05:03
#3  
  • LESBUB
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One-off translates into "Disposable"

Many green issues discussed here inc. Eco-convertible chopsticks

http://www.gei.org.mo/indexx.htm
Mar 15, 2008 12:09
#4  
  • GRIZ326
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Disposable!

In that case you must weigh the health advantages and environmental cost of the one-off chopsticks against the possibity of spreading disease with re-usable chopsticks that are not washed properly, the environmental costs of heating the water to wash the chopsticks and the pollution of disposing of the soapy wash water.

Mar 15, 2008 22:38
#5  
  • LEONARDO
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A funny twisted Hemingway's poem For Whom The Bell Tolls! I am amazed that so many poets are emerging on the forum! LOL!

Seriously, one-off chopsticks have been posing a serious problem. That might be a problem unique in China. ( Do other countries use chopsticks? Do the restaurants in Chinatown usually use one-off chopsticks? ) Oh, Japan used one-off chopsticks too. The worse scenario is that China does not only consume a large number of trees (served as one-off chopsticks), but also export a large quantity of small trees to Japan. Japanese are smart. They are rich in trees, but they would not cut them to serve as one-off chopsticks. Chinese people should be more environmentally-conscious and crisis-conscious.
Mar 22, 2008 22:31
#6  
  • GRIZ326
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In the USA we use one-off knives, spoons and forks. They are made of plastic. Plastic is made from petroleum...which is also an expensive and valuable resource.

I carry my own eating tools when I travel.
Mar 25, 2008 10:56
#7  
  • SETH
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With jobs getting scarce, even in China, switching to washable reusable chopsticks might be a good idea for the ecology and the workforce. Women might especially prosper, gathering and cleaning used chopsticks for restaurants. A woman entrepreneur could do well, advertising that it is for chopsticks that the "belle toils!"

Men could prosper too, having their chopstick-cleaning businesses identified by signs containing a large letter "C", like "C" as in chopsticks. I could imagine elderly men, masters of their trade and highly proficient in chopstick cleaning, to be known as "the old men and the C"!

But technology could do even better! A sanitary robot that sits on a dining table and actually feeds us would allow us to say "a farewell to arms!". However, the expense of such a robot would divide people into two classes , and we'd be forever discussing what it means "to have and have not!" I could imagine arguments going on all night, even until "the sun also rises!"

Ah yes -- that felt good. Heh-heh!
Mar 25, 2008 20:31
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  • YVONNE
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"A sanitary robot that sits on a dining table and actually feeds us would allow us to say "a farewell to arms!".

Yup, a robot will do a lot of work for us. Cleaning chopsticks, washing clothes and even feeding us. Supposed that one day robots can do all the work that human can, what will we do? What is the meanning for human to exist?

Back to the issue, I strongly support the farewell to one-chopsticks.
Mar 26, 2008 17:36
#9  
  • RALPHH
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Yes but how does Ernest feel about it? Maybe we must ask SETH.
Mar 30, 2008 15:19
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  • IBAUSSIE
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During my two week stay in Zhanjiang i had the pleasure of dining at more than a dozen restaurants with family and friends. Not one of the restaurants issued disposable chopsticks.
A ritual utensil cleansing is performed by meal partisipants where the first pot or pots of scalding tea are poured down the chopsticks,held almost vertical, into your bowl,which contains your spoon until you are satisfied all germs are dead or your bowl overflows. Whichever comes first.
At large family banquets many pots of tea can be sacrificed before one is actually drunk.
Whether this sterilisation procedure works or not no one knows but it seemed to give the chopstickee peace of mind.
Worked for me,lol
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