Chopsticks

To encourage the Chinese people to use and throw away less, a 5 percent tax was added to the price of chopsticks in China in April 2006. This measure was part of the first tax package in 12 years. A number of initiatives to reduce the use of disposable wooden chopsticks are underway in Asian countries, including education of the public, programs in which restaurants collect used chopsticks for recycling instead of throwing them away, legislation to enforce the use of re-usable plastic or stainless steel chopsticks in institutions and public restaurants, and popular movements encouraging individuals to carry their own personal sets of chopsticks in purses and pockets to use in restaurants and offices instead of disposable chopsticks. <ref>