100 Ways to Reduce Your Impact

Step 80 Reuse Your Chopsticks

Chinese/Japanese/Vietnamese restaurants give out chop sticks for free, and they are used to be disposable.

Reuse these chopsticks by a simple cleaning. That way you don't waste trees by taking chopsticks.

You can also buy permanent ones with cool designs.

Comments

[msfwebdude]

I am pretty sure these are made of bamboo. Bamboo is one of the key renewable resources. A bamboo plant can grow 1-3 feet every day. and from 1 feet of bamboo they make maybe two dozen chopsticks. And if they grow bamboo for chopsticks, Then the bamboo plant has had time to remove carbon dioxide from the air. So disposing of disposable chopsticks might be better than using one pair. Don't mind me, I live to be devil's advocate :P

[tcc0828]

I've been wondering about that for a few years now, since bamboo grows so fast can coal burning plants build really long greenhouses next to them filled with bamboo plants and blow their pollution in for the plants to absorb? Or would the pollution be too toxic? Of course then you'd have a problem of what to do with all the bamboo... Lots of chopsticks, furniture, flooring, etc.

[babybackribs]

Do you know how much CO2 can a bamboo plant remove from the atmosphere around it in a day by any chance? I would think its not very significant. I mean, leaving the plant there to remove CO2 and THEN cutting it a day later is kind of stupid. A better idea--once people start to re-use chopsticks, we can just keep them and still let the bamboo grow. Now the bamboo is there for a much longer time, or is sent to a better cause, not being repeatedly cut down for disposable chop sticks.

[heaven11pa]

bamboo plants are replaceable since they grow fast right?? so when you cut one, the other one sprouts and grow fast...

[ret1614]

But if people start to re use chopsticks, it becomes worthless to grow the bamboo. If there isn't demand for a product, it won't be produced. So, if we don't throw our chopsticks away and use more, they won't grow the bamboo to make the chopsticks, and the carbon won't be sequestered. I dunno if I'm looking at this with too much of a business angle...

lol, and the best thing to do with the chopsticks would be to bury them in a landfill so that they don't release the carbon back into the atmosphere when they decay. Doesn't make sense does it? Put the carbon back in the ground where we got it from...

[yuanzhoulv]

Realistically, FAR more CO2 is emitted by transporting personnel, cutting bamboo, transporting it back, manufacturing, transporting it elsewhere for packaging, then shipping it 15000 km to the United States. The CO2 reduction you get by growing more bamboo due to economy is tiny compared to the amount you emit due to that economy's transport and manufacture. The best is almost ALWAYS to reuse. If there is place to grow something and we humans don't grow it, nature will take care of planting something there, be it bamboo or something else. Don't worry about that part.

[Blake_Dice]

They now make bamboo flooring and tables.  I am sure they can make other things also, so even if you reuse your chopsticks, it may not hurt them to much. :)

[cornbaque]

i like to reuse them to put my hair up after they've been washed. reuse doesn't necessarily mean to keep eating with them. i re used a bunch or chopsticks when i made my tiny swamp cooler out of a computer fan since i didn't have any popsicle sticks. oh my god, i'm gonna try to make chopstick lincoln logs, lol :D

[coerul]

The reason it's smart to throw away unsealed, wooden chopsticks is because, like cutting boards, they can retain dangerous bacteria if used with raw meats. If you don't eat any raw foods (like sushi, sashimi, etc.) then it should be fine, but otherwise throw them away.

[greenwink]

Actually, there was a study done on cutting boards a few years ago - wooden vs. plastic: 
 
faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/faculty/docliver/Research/cuttingboard.htm
 
In effect, their study showed that germs on wood cutting boards do not multiply, and eventually die.  Most wood cutting boards are self-healing - meaning knife cuts, unless unduly deep, close up again - so manual cleaning (wiping by hand) works well.  With plastic cutting boards, there is extensive damage done to the boards with a knife, and germs can multiply in the cuts; but they're easily disinfected by mechanical means (dishwasher).

So, it depends on personal preference & whether you have a dishwasher or not.  Having used both types, I prefer the wooden kind.  The plastic ones slide around too much when being used; the more you use them, the rougher the surface; they constantly look dirty, even after washing (I don't own a dishwasher).  And finally, I just like the look of wooden ones better. 

Actually, I'm currently using a cutting board made completely from recycled paper.  It looks & acts like wood; and you can soak it, & it doesn't expand or fall apart.  I've had mine for over a year & looks almost like new.

[fwater]

Food poising danger. Irresponsibility fail.

[shannnn]

But hey, if they give you disposable forks, knives or spoons, made of plastic (or, egads, plastic chopsticks), by all means keep & re-use those! Bamboo chopsticks can also be a nice stake to support wimpy houseplants...