Society against Disposable Chopsticks- Essay 2
From Mod Mania
Society against Disposable Chopsticks- Essay 2
by Mert Kulaksiz, extended research based on Zhaoyue Yang’s ‘The community of Chinese chopstick’
It is really hard to think Chinese cuisine and chopsticks separately both in China and in any other country which has Chinese cuisine restaurants. It is a great part of Chinese culture and use of chopsticks is a part of everyone’s life in China. Some culinary experts believe that the Chinese cuisine would not have attained its current international renown if the Chinese had not invented chopsticks to go with their food and cooking style. In its more than 3000 years’ history, it has eliminated the preceding forks and has not been superseded by any other newer type of dining tool.[1] In the essay called ‘The community of Chinese chopstick’, Zhaoyue Yang mentions about many kind of chopsticks and their relations with their consumer societies in general in China. Being attracted by the topic and essay, I will extend writer’s research on a more specific topic about the consuming (or not consuming) act on the disposable chopsticks in China.
During the ages, many different styles of chopsticks are produced and used but 20 years ago, disposable chopsticks entered the market and their environmentally bad effects are well proved today. Disposable chopsticks are common everyday implements used in restaurants and for eating takeaway lunches bought at convenience stores and supermarkets, and are generally made from wooden, plastic or bamboo. [2] Plastic’s hazards are quiet obvious but there is another big environmental thread caused by chopsticks made from wooden. According to statistics, 80 billion pair chopsticks a year, the equivalent of 16 million trees are produced in China. If they are put end to end, 21 ways can be created from earth to moon. They're a very simple, very powerful symbol of the environmental impact of a consumer society. [3]Having influenced by this fact, nowadays in China, a great majority of people come together around idea of not using disposable chopsticks which is leading this community to focus on eco-friendly ways of using chopsticks and use of eco-friendly chopsticks. Although it is hard to mention consumption of one specific product about this topic, it is quite obvious that a great organized consumer society is about to occur around a product to not consume it. Community’s motto is ‘I am not disposable’ and it is a part of Greenpeace activity in China.
In general,objective of Greenpeace in China is to raise awareness of environmental issues, and the idea that people can take individual action to make a difference, as well as raise people's awareness of the organisation itself. Their starting point is disposable chopsticks. Community is mostly consisted of under 30s white collar workers and students as targeted in stratgey. They trying to spread the idea of not using dispoable chopsticks and supporting acts like ‘brign your own chopstick’. According to and article on project, it is said that It made a great starting point to recruit supporters with a view to opening them to the idea that they can get involved in campaigns on wider environmental issues. It aimed to: be cool - talking in terms of a trendy lifestyle choice rather than an environmental issue, provide a simple, personal action people could take, work within the restrictions on operating in China, but push the boundaries of how campaigning could be done.[4]
Community also have got a website in which they inform people, communicate with each other and promote the idea of carrying your own reusable chopsticks with you.
In this website people can sign up and get an 'ID card' to carry in their wallets to show their commitment to the campaign, or download an electronic version to display on blogs and websites. Restaurant-guide websites were encouraged to add tags showing whether restaurants used re-usable or disposable chopsticks. Within three months 3,000 restaurant reviews had been tagged. According to webstie, almost 20,000 people have already become a member.[5]
About the hierarchy in community; Greenpeace is a big world-wide organization and since the community of ‘I am not disposable’ is a part of Greenpeace act, people from this organization are mostly the first decision makers in this community. Starting decisions like to create an organization in China, finding strategies and target groups, planning the future acts etc. In the practical act, a group of local activist is on the stage in terms of preparing website, posters, workshops etc. About the real power of community, followers, they are able practice in community mostly by supporting the motto and also by volunteering to help to spread of idea. Since it is an organization which’s aim to make as much as people aware of the problem and activate them, new comers are very valuable in this society. Lastly, about the outsiders, they are seen as potentials to make them aware of what the group believes.
As aforementioned before, a community around a specific product was not the topic of this essay. Indeed, it was a community which come together to be against a certain product in general. Although the aim is completely different from the ones who supports one type of products, a group which is against a product show very similar patterns in terms of hierarchy, practices and ,even being loyaler, in terms of supporting the idea.
References [1] http://lampinfoo.com/2009/02/12/from-fork-to-chopstick/ [2] http://homepage.mac.com/mstrauch/greenchopsticks/read05bidne.html [3] http://act.greenpeace.org.cn/action/forest [4] http://fairsay.com/tools/campaigning-insights/case-study-reaching-a-new-audience-im-not-disposable-chopsticks [5] http://fairsay.com/tools/campaigning-insights/case-study-reaching-a-new-audience-im-not-disposable-chopsticks
