China’s Ministry of Commerce and five other ministries issued a joint warning in June about chopsticks. “Companies making disposable chopsticks will face local government restrictions aimed at decreasing the use of the throwaway utensil,” decreed the officials. “Production, circulation and recycling of disposable chopsticks should be more strictly supervised,” the announcement said. 

    For those who think that the government is overreaching in waging a war on the disposable chopstick, the math makes disposable chopsticks look menacing -- an environmental disaster not to be taken lightly. Begin with China’s 1.3 billion people. In one year, they go through roughly 45 billion pairs of the throwaway utensils -- nearly 130 million pairs of chopsticks a day.

    Greenpeace China has estimated that 100 acres of trees need to be felled every 24 hours to keep up with demand, which equates to a forest larger than Tiananmen Square.

    If the disposable chopstick has to go, its death will be a slow one. Calls to abandon the use-and-toss type began more than 10 years ago and have persisted unabated. By 2006, the activism had become more strenuous. Citizens launched a BYOC (Bring Your Own Chopsticks) movement that continues to gather momentum.

    Yet more than 10 years later, the targeted disposable remains. 

    First, 100,000 people in more than 300 Chinese factories are employed in the manufacture of the wooden utensils, which is most definitely a flourishing enterprise. Just as jobs trump environmental issues in the West, the argument that 100,000 jobs are at stake is a refrain that carries considerable weight. 

    Then there are the restaurants. The alternative to wooden disposables is sterilizing tableware after each use. The cost differential is significant -- disposables are 15 to 70 times cheaper. Restaurants, especially the low-end ones, worry about passing the costs on to customers. 

    The warning issued by the Ministry of Commerce would appear to be a step in the right direction. Realistically, though, it offers scant hope because it simply has no teeth. It does not address the specific restrictions to be imposed nor the nature of consequences for violations. Most tellingly, it sidesteps making any particular agency responsible for enforcement.

    That the Chinese leadership is now taking sides in the war over disposable chopsticks is nonetheless heartening. In the end, the outcome will be determined by customers who must decide whether carrying their own sticks and bearing the costs of reusables is too large a price to pay to protect China’s quickly disappearing forests.

    Source: www.latimes.com

 中国与一次性筷子做斗争

       中国商务部今年6月会同其他五个部委发出警告说，生产一次性筷子的企业将面临地方政府旨在减少使用一次性用具的限制措施，一次性筷子生产、流通和回收环节的监管将被加强。 

       你也许会认为，政府对一次性筷子开战手伸得太长，没有必要。 但是，如果你做一下数学题，就会发现一次性筷子具有极大的威胁——这是一种不可掉以轻心的环境灾难。中国拥有13亿人口，一年就要用掉大约450亿双一次性筷子，平均每天近1.3亿双。

       绿色和平组织中国分部估计，为了满足这种需求，每24个小时需要砍掉100英亩(40.468公顷)的树木。想想吧，每天就需要牺牲掉比天安门广场还要大的一片森林。

       如果说一次性筷子不得不消灭的话，可以肯定它的灭亡将是一个缓慢的过程。要求放弃“用了就扔掉”生活方式的呼声10多年前就出现了，而且自那时起有增无减。到2006年，人们的劲头更足了：公民们发起了一场“自己带筷子”运动，而且这场运动的势头不断增强。 

       然而在10多年后的今天，作为消灭对象的一次性筷子却仍和我们在一起，这是为什么呢？

       首先在中国，10万人受雇于300多家工厂，制造这种木制用具，这无疑是一个生意兴隆的行业。正如在西方就业问题高于环境问题一样，有关10万个就业岗位受到威胁的说法成了一种具有相当分量的老生常谈。 

       其次是餐馆方面的问题。如果不使用一次性筷子，餐馆就要对餐具每次使用后进行消毒。但是，两者之间的成本差别相当大，一次性筷子是消毒费用的十五到七十分之一。餐馆、特别是低档餐馆对把成本转嫁给消费者感到担心。

       商务部发出的警告似乎是朝着正确方向迈出的一步。然而从现实角度看，由于没有有效的威慑力，这一警告并没有让人抱有很大希望。警告中没有提到要实行的具体限制措施，也没有提到如有违反会产生什么后果。最能说明问题的是，警告中回避了由哪个部门负责执行的问题。 

       中国领导层现在开始在对付一次性筷子的战争中支持正确一方，这一点令人鼓舞。但是，其结果如何将取决于人民，是否愿意为了保护中国正在迅速消失的森林，情愿自带筷子并承担可重复使用筷子的费用。