Eating with Chopsticks

The other day Brad went to lunch with one of his 4,000 students and noticed that the kid pulled out chopsticks out of his bag. They said "Greenpeace" on them and when Brad asked about it, the student told Brad that he carries them so not to waste disposable chopsticks. We were all a little floored...

(Floored not because we did not think it was an issue, but because a student took a creative initiative... don't see that too much)

Each time we eat at a restaurant, 9 out of 10 times we use disposable chopsticks. We have all pondered the problem this could cause, but it was not until the student said something about it that we looked at it a little closer. After Googling, I found this from the Washington Post

"China now produces and discards more than 45 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks every year, cutting down as many as 25 million trees in the process, according to government statistics. Another 15 billion pairs are exported to Japan, South Korea and other countries. At the current rate of timber use, environmentalists warn, China will consume its remaining forests in about a decade."

In a decade??!?! You better believe I put my chopsticks in my purse right away. A nice little "active" way to show concern for the environment within the context of our culture. If you want to go to lunch let me know ahead of time so I can pack you some sticks...