Tens of thousands of disposable wooden chopsticks have been recycled and turned into items of furniture in the capital of the east Chinese province of Zhejiang.
A local newspaper and a company co-launched a program two months ago urging city dwellers to surrender such chopsticks. The sponsors collected 50,000 pairs of wooden chopsticks in a very short time, pulped them, and reincarnated them as items of furniture. The furniture was then auctioned to raise money to buy saplings.
The saplings were planted by the side of the scenic West Lake on June 5, World Environment Day.
(21dnn.com.cn 06/08/2001)