China uses 20 million trees each year to feed the country\u2019s disposable chopstick habit, Bo Guangxin, the head of a major forestry group, told Chinese parliamentarians on Friday according to Chinese state media. At 4,000 chopsticks per tree, that\u2019s roughly 80 billion chopsticks per year \u2014 far more than the 57 billion estimated by the country\u2019s national forest bureau.<\/p>\n
While this is hardly the first time that the chopstick issue has come up in China, the new numbers make the problem look particularly urgent. The country\u2019s last forest survey, published in 2009, documented rampant deforestation and forest quality far below the global average. Greenpeace has even dedicated a campaign to the chopstick problem, blaming it for the destruction of 1.18 million square meters of forest every year.<\/p>\n
China has tried to clamp down on chopsticks before \u2014 chiefly by taxing them and wooden floor boards, another environmental offender. In 2008, the Wall Street Journal\u2019s Jane Spencer reported on a cultural backlash against the chopsticks, led by celebrities, activists and environmentally minded youth.<\/p>\n
\u201cDisposable chopsticks are destroying China\u2019s forests,\u201d a 26-year-old activist, dressed as an orangutan reportedly said at a protest at Microsoft\u2019s Chinese headquarters. \u201cWe must protest this pointless waste!\u201d<\/p>\n