I was just about to bite into a delicious chunk of tofu last night when one of my dining companions pointed at my chopsticks and told me they were destroying the planet. Chopsticks? Sure, they always seem wasteful to me, like those little wooden coffee stirrers that people use once to swirl the milk in and then throw away. But I'd assumed they were a byproduct of other timber uses, and had never really considered them before. Turns out disposable wooden chopsticks are a huge problem.

In China alone, 25 million trees are cut down every year to make chopsticks that are used once and then thrown away. According to an NPR report, China makes 15 billion chopsticks each year, which are used in the country or exported to Chinese restaurants around the world. Beginning last month, the Chinese government began levying a tax on wooden chopsticks - along with other wood products such as floor panels and luxury goods like yachts - in an attempt to reign in energy use and pollution in the country. The government is trying to put the country on a path toward greater sustainability as its economy continues to experience the world's fastest growth.

Meanwhile, in Sacramento, California, a company called Kwytza Kraft is reclaiming a few of those discarded chopsticks and turning them into innovative home furnishings, including tables, lamps, and wine racks. The company's motto is "Extending the use of chopsticks through art to provide exquisitely designed accents of enduring quality and ecological significance." Their inexpensive designs are for sale online.

Image credit: KoaMart