Photo of the day: Playing Chopsticks


If you can think of a movie scene set in a toy store, odds are it’s the Chopsticks scene at New York City‘s FAO Schwarz from Big. Though the movie is now over 20 years old (!), few can resist sliding across the big keyboard and recreating Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia’s duet medley of “Heart and Soul” and “Chopsticks.” Today’s Photo of the Day by Flickr user snowjumpr shows how fun it can be to play in a toy store, no matter how, er, big you are.

Have you recreated any movie moments on your travels? Add your photos to the Gadling Flickr pool to be chosen as a future Photo of the Day.

Taiwan phasing out disposable chopsticks

Well, even Taiwan is now more environmentally progressive than the US.

About 10,000 convenience stores in Taiwan will join an environmental push by withholding disposable chopsticks from hordes of customers used to getting them with take-out meals, Reuters reports.

From next Wednesday in Taipei, and by July 1 on the rest of the island, four convenience store chains will give out the wooden single-use chopsticks only on request. Taiwan’s small restaurants also will be encouraged, with the enticement of saving money, to phase out disposable chopsticks, claiming that “conservation is getting to be mainstream” and that it shouldn’t be an issue.

Conservation efforts are happening elsewhere in Asia. For example, China banned production of ultra-thin plastic bags in May and activists in Japan are pushing for a reduction of wooden chopsticks, which are already made from recycled chips. I travel with my own chopsticks anyway, so it would be a non-issue for me.

I wish conservation was “becoming mainstream” in the US. I think the minute Americans get “forced” to carry reusable chopsticks or forks for take-out lunch, there might be riots in the streets.

[via Asiaone]

Big in Japan: Making Biofuel Out of Used Chopsticks

Today’s ten-million yen trivia question is this:

How many disposable, wooden chopsticks are used each year in Japan?

Give up?

The answer is approximately 90,000 tons (81,646,000 kilograms) or approximately two-hundred pairs per person per year. Needless to say, the Japanese aren’t exactly the world’s greatest environmentalists!

Indeed, one of the biggest culture shocks foreigners experience upon arrival is the incredible amount of trash that the Japanese generate. For example, if you go to the convenience store to buy a bento or lunch box, it’ll be skillfully double or even triple bagged by the clerk. After unwrapping the endless layers of your bento, inside you’ll sometimes find as many as three pairs of chopsticks- just in case you feel like sharing your lunch with a few friends.

So, what can be done you ask – how about making biofuel?

Earlier this week, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fishery announced plans to allocate funds to support nationwide chopstick recycling programs. The aim of the program is two-fold: the first is to raise public awareness about the need to conserve resources, particularly items that are a daily fixture in people’s lives. The second aim is to support projects by businesses and local governments to turn disposable chopsticks into biofuel.

Currently, used chopsticks are simply discarded in the burnable rubbish bin (one credit to the Japanese is that they routinely separate burnable and non-burnable garbage). In a country obsessed with hygiene and cleanliness, the idea of reusing chopsticks is unheard of, especially with the fear of pandemic illness on the rise such as SARS and avian flu. Indeed, environmentally conscious foreigners like myself who carry our own chopsticks around with us are usually the subject of intense ridicule!

However, the current plan is to install boxes to collect used chopsticks outside restaurants and convenience stores. Private contractors will then transport these boxes to special facilities where the chopsticks will be ground up and compressed into wooden pellets, which can be used as a high-energy fuel.

Typically, wooden pellets are formed using heat and pressure to compact sawdust and paper, though disposable chopsticks are clearly a more abundant resource. There is also hope that disposable chopsticks can be converted into ethanol, which is becoming an increasingly important additive to gasoline. Currently, there are approximately thirty facilities producing wooden pellets across the country, as well as ethanol-producing facilities in Osaka and Okayama.

The Ministry is hopeful that the program will also help raise consciousness about the social responsibility of large corporations across the country. This is particularly relevant as global climate will be a major topic on the agenda at the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations’ economic summit scheduled for June of 2008 in Hokkaido.

Furthermore, I think I can speak for everyone here in Tokyo that after suffering through one of the hottest summers on the book (I’m tired of sweating through everything I own), stepping up the fight against global warming is something all of us can agree on.

Japan may have sparkling whale-free seas, but at least there’s hope for the forests.

PS As a disclaimer, I am by no means knowledgeable on the process of making biofuel, so please feel free to comment on the efficacy of this program!

** Special thanks to Flickr users Rick (Chinese Lunch), MShades (Bento Box) and View-Askew (Pollution) **

The World’s Most Versatile Travel Chopsticks

Tripstixx claim to be the world’s “most versatile collapsible chopsticks.” Compact and hygienic, the sleek, globe-trotting ensemble includes two handles that are interchangeable with two separate styles of tips: sushi (pointed) and banquet (rounded).

These eco-friendly chopsticks are made from reusable, high-density polycarbonate, which means no trees were harmed in their production — and you can pack them in your carry-on without any worries. One complete set, which includes a carrying case, runs $15.

Previously:
China Sticks
The Chork: Chopsticks + Fork Fusion