From the Chinese press

Refuse disposable chopsticks

Each year in China the equivalent of 20 million 20-year-old trees are cut down to make 80 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks, according to Bai Guangxin, a deputy to the National People's Congress and CEO of China Jilin Forest Industry Group. We need to rethink our use of disposable chopsticks, says an article in gmw.cn. Excerpts:

The sandstorms in Beijing during the two sessions should be a wake up call about the alarming effects of deforestation. It's time we reduced the massive cutting down of trees for chopsticks.