Chopsticks.....

.......For A Price!

The Chinese Finance Ministry has announced that beginning April 1, 2006 there will now be a 5% tax imposed on disposable wooden chopsticks as part of an effort to control energy consumption as well as to help protect the environment.

China produces close to 16 BILLION boxes of wooden, energy consuming, environment destroying, chopsticks per year. This astonishing number amounts to 50 pairs of wooden chopsticks per year for every person in China.



Granted the Chinese do have the reusable chopsticks available, but apparently the wooden chopsticks are very popular. I am sure that the Chinese people are aware of the alternative eating utensils.

Jerry Seinfeld states in one of his stand up routines:

I'll tell you what I like about Chinese people. They're hanging in there with the chopsticks. You know they've seen the fork. They're staying with the sticks. I don't know how they missed it. Going out all day on the farm with a shovel. Come on. Shovel. Spoon. You're not plowing 50 acres with a couple of pool cues.

I cannot help but wonder just how this will affect the price of OUR take out Chinese food. You know you love it and Chinese Take-Out just does not taste the same without that all-important pair of wooden chopsticks.

Let’s just hope that our government does not decide to take a page from China’s book and start to tax our toothpicks, wooden popsicle sticks and coffee stirrers. That would just be so WRONG on SO many levels.


~ chopstick tax is not a good fortune