The Evil Little Chopsticks
I’ve started to carry around my own chopsticks these days. I must admit I can get some strange looks if I happen to pull them out while searching my purse for some chapstick or some of the spare change I’m always throwing in there. When I get the quizzical stares I tend to explain the following:
C. and I, like just about everyone in Toronto, tend to eat out a bit. We enjoy a variety of foods but we frequently find ourselves at Japanese/Sushi bar type places; and we probably won’t ever say no to some Dim Sum. Unfortunately these types of restaurants create some of the worst waste when it comes to their “cutlery” choices.
Chopsticks, hundreds of one time use chopsticks that immediately find their way into the garbage. It’s just not very environmentally friendly and I don’t really know why they became popular in the first place.
First off they’re a pain to get open. In theory you would rip off the top of their little paper packaging and they would just slid on out. Almost never happens that way. Most of the time you are reduced to completely tearing apart the packaging trying to release the paper’s death grip on those little sticks of wood.
Then of course you have to snap them apart. Ever try to snap a pair apart and have the chopsticks break in half? Yeah not fun, and then to top it off half the time there’s little tiny slivery pieces that will jab you somewhere in your fingers or your hand. C. has often come back from eating sushi with little wooden bits embedded in his hands.
Of course the benefit to the restaurant is that they don’t have to clean a bunch of freaking chopsticks. But in the age of industrial dishwashers is it really that big of a concern? Personally I appreciate going to the Asian restaurants that have the reusable chopsticks, the big heavy ones that Korean restaurants often seem to use are good.
An extra positive about those big chopsticks is that they are actually easier to use for a lot of chopstick newbs. Their size makes the easier to hold onto and their weight allows you to get a better feel on what you’re actually doing with your hands. My personal favourite set of chopsticks that I own are actually a high quality heavy wood pair I got from Korea. The wood does allow you to have a better grip on your food but those little disposables have too many other “ick” factors that completely cancel out the fact that they’re wood, including their generally poor shape and balance.
So I carry around my trusty plastic chopsticks in my purse whenever we plan to go out to eat, despite the funny looks. I must admit they make the meal a little more enjoyable with a lot less garbage.
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