Uses for chopsticks in gardening

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

How to use chopsticks in the garden and in gardening indoors and outdoors

Every year, billions of disposable chopsticks are manufactured in China and shipped across the globe to Asian restaurants and take-out restaurants and with almost every tray of sushi bought in supermarkets and other places you get a set of those as well.

Those chopsticks are made out of a variety of woods, including birch, spruce, cotton wood, or bamboo.

Before even considering using them in the garden and in gardening, though that is what, mostly, we will be looking at here, the first reuse of them is as what they are, namely chopsticks.

I have a couple of sets of those sets at home in the tin cans on the windowsill in the kitchen that hold the various items of cutlery. There is a tin for spoons, for knives, etc. and one of them has also got some (wooden) chopsticks in them (for use). I also carry a small set, in a leather wallet, for on-the go.

While I in no way support deforestation in the name of stuffing our faces with dumplings and Vietnamese Crab Fried Rice, I do appreciate, however, creative ways to reuse and recycle items that are otherwise discarded into the trashcan or at the very least stuffed into a kitchen junk drawer, as is all too often the case also with those chopsticks.

In Japan (and also China now, I believe) a trend was started a while back of “bring your own chopsticks” – much like the “bring your own cutlery” that has been advocated in the West, and this is certainly something that should be encouraged.

So, before reuse of such chopsticks in the garden think of reusing them as what they are and when you want to use chopsticks at home then use those. Or when going out where there is the chance that you may indulge in some Asian food then carry your own set.

Having said that I am well aware that often getting yet another set is unavoidable as in some cases they are prepacked with the meal you purchase and you have no choice and control over this.

Right, now for the reuse of chopsticks in the garden and gardening

Dibblet: A dibblet is one of those small dibbers for separating seedlings and replanting them. Some people use a small stick, a pencil or pen, or such while others spend money, actually, buying a special dibblet. Use a chopstick instead. Works great.

Seed Flags: After you have planted your seeds, it is time to make a label so you know where you have planted what. The best marker is a good old flag: Use colored tape, cut it into a fun flag shape, wrap it around one end of a chopstick, and use a marker to note the name.

Seedling Support Stakes: When seedlings coming up, and are getting tall they may need some support. Insert a chopstick into the dirt next to the plant, and loosely tie a piece of twine or string around it to help keep the plant upright as it grows.

Row Planting Guide: Want to make sure you plant your rows straight? Cut a piece of twine or string a few inches longer than your row will be, or just have a lot more string than you will actually need to have one you can use again and again. Tie each end to the tops of two chopsticks. Stick the chopsticks into the ground at either end of the proposed row so that the twine is suspended like a bridge. If you use more twine than you might need for shorter rows just wind then remaining stuff onto one of the chopsticks. You can use your trowel to dig into the ground directly below the twine, making a perfectly straight row.

Mini “Greenhouse”: Stick three chopsticks into a pot or individual seed starting cell, and fit a plastic bag over the top and you have an instant small propagator.

The above are, obviously, only a few ways in which you can reuse and make use of those chopsticks in the garden and gardening and I am sure many readers can come – and have come up – with other ideas in addition to those presented here.

© 2018

China's 80 billion-a-year chopstick habit has serious impact on forests

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

China's ever increasing demand for disposable chopsticks is taking an serious and ever growing toll on the country's forests, Chinese state media reports.

According to Bai Guangxin, chairman of Jilin Forestry Industry Group, China produces 80 billion disposable chopsticks per year, up sharply from the 57 billion estimated by the state forestry administration in 2010. Bai told Xinhua that 20 million trees are felled annually to meet demand. He didn't specify the origin of the trees, but domestic sources would mostly come from forest plantations since the country banned natural forest logging after devastating floods in 1998.

Bai said that chopstick demand risks undermining the country's reforestation and afforestation targets. Accordingly, he recommended that people carry their own chopsticks when they dine out at restaurants.

Previous efforts to stem the use of disposable chopsticks – including a use tax in 2006 and a threat of increased government regulation in 2010 – have apparently failed.

If it is true that the the timber for those chopsticks comes from domestic sources and in that case from plantations which have been created and are managed for this purpose then this is one thing and a lot more sustainable. However, if foreign sources and natural forest logging is part of this then things look different altogether.

While everyone immediately panics when the talk is of trees being cut for the production of this or that the source of the tree is what matters. It is the same with chopstick production as with paper.

That is to say that is the sources are from sustainably managed plantations, as is the case for most of the paper industry, for instance, the fact is that were it not for this particular industry those forests would not even exist.

On the other hand, if the wood is sourced in other ways then we do have a serious problem, especially if not replanting is undertaken, as is the case, so it is understood with Kimberly-Clark’s operations in the boreal forests of Canada.

We have now had the advice given to Chinese – and the same advice is being given to Japanese – diners to bring their own chopsticks when they go out to eat and still, it would appear, the demand for the disposable ones is increasing year by year. The message, thus, does not seem to have gotten through. Reinforcement may be required by way of legislation and a tax on disposable chopsticks.

And such a tax would also be good in the West for the same, as tons of disposable chopsticks are also used by those buying take-out Sushi, for instance, and Chinese meals. Also such a levy would also come in handy, maybe, to curb the use of disposable cups and cutlery in general.

The bring-your-own (BYO) principle is not difficult but it would appear that people are simply too lazy to do it all too often and the same also applies as regards to shopping bags.

When I grew up it was traditional for us to carry our own set of cutlery and then, as a military man that was again the way. So, still today, I carry, and the same for several other things, such as refillable water bottle. It can be done but needs forethought.

© 2013