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https://www.tofugu.com/japan/chopsticks-in-japan https://www.tofugu.com/japan/chopsticks-in-japan > In 1878, Japan produced the world's first disposable chopst

by csours 4y ago

https://www.tofugu.com/japan/chopsticks-in-japan https://www.tofugu.com/japan/chopsticks-in-japan > In 1878, Japan produced the world's first disposable chopsticks, and today China and Japan use the majority of them. China is responsible for using 45 billion disposable chopsticks a year. Japan is about half of that at 24 billion. I've used plastic, lacquered wood, and stainless steel multi-use chopsticks. Each of them has problems. At home I use titanium chopsticks and they are phenomenal, but bamboo are just as good if not better.

wheels 4y ago
...which accidentally gives us the information in question. With 1.4 billion people using chopsticks on average twice a day, that'd mean 511 billion instances of chop-stick usage per year. So the Chinese use disposable chopsticks about 8% of the time, thus debunking the grandparent's claim that they're primarily disposable.
- Jolter 4y ago
  So you figured I was talking about the large number of bars and restaurants I visit in China? :-D Sadly I’ve never had an occasion to travel there, and so my assumptions and observations about utensil usage are valid for parts of Western Europe, Africa and South East Asia. I figured since the thread was about Estonia, it would be safe to assume we were not discussing how the Chinese might benefit from switching away from chopsticks to large pincers.
  - wheels 4y ago
    You didn't qualify your statement with a location (and I have no idea who you are; there are obviously readers here from all over the world), and it seems weird to retroactively assume that we all understood your general statement about chopstick usage to only apply to the regions where they're only used as a novelty, but not to, you know, the region of the world which (a) actually uses chopsticks and (b) contains most of the world's population.
    - Jolter 4y ago
      I'm sorry, I will be sure to post be more specific when I post in the future. That way you won't need to tell me I'm wrong. I can tell you don't enjoy that.

by csours 4y ago

wheels 4y ago

...which accidentally gives us the information in question. With 1.4 billion people using chopsticks on average twice a day, that'd mean 511 billion instances of chop-stick usage per year. So the Chinese use disposable chopsticks about 8% of the time, thus debunking the grandparent's claim that they're primarily disposable.

Jolter 4y ago
So you figured I was talking about the large number of bars and restaurants I visit in China? :-D Sadly I’ve never had an occasion to travel there, and so my assumptions and observations about utensil usage are valid for parts of Western Europe, Africa and South East Asia. I figured since the thread was about Estonia, it would be safe to assume we were not discussing how the Chinese might benefit from switching away from chopsticks to large pincers.
- wheels 4y ago
  You didn't qualify your statement with a location (and I have no idea who you are; there are obviously readers here from all over the world), and it seems weird to retroactively assume that we all understood your general statement about chopstick usage to only apply to the regions where they're only used as a novelty, but not to, you know, the region of the world which (a) actually uses chopsticks and (b) contains most of the world's population.
  - Jolter 4y ago
    I'm sorry, I will be sure to post be more specific when I post in the future. That way you won't need to tell me I'm wrong. I can tell you don't enjoy that.