I am not Chinese and I have never ever been able to eat with chopsticks properly. In fact every time I eat noodles in a restaurant with my buddies they make it a point to click a picture while half of those things are hanging out of my mouth still and I am desperately trying to swallow them while still attempting to look like I’m in perfect poise. So basically I suck when it comes to Chopsticks and Chinese food. That is exactly the reason why I bring it home and eat it in the comfort of my couch where I cannot make a total idiot of myself. That is also the reason why I support every chopstick being used in recycled art.
Kwytza Kraft was the original idea of founder Bryan Parks, an American who lived in China for several years. It’s not surprising that Bryan made a steady habit of eating with chopsticks while there. (Okay, now maybe I need to live in China to master the craft). One day during lunch which was of course being eaten with single-use chopsticks, Bryan rather nonchalantly asked his lunch partner how many chopsticks did he imagine were used per year considering China’s population size. This simple question would prove to be the catalyst for an innovative coupling of art and conservationism. That is pretty much the legend behind the craft.
Research shows that literally billions of single-use chopsticks are consumed annually. The more shocking revelation was that it took, by some estimates, 25 million trees and bamboo plants to support that resource waste. So why waste such precious resource after just one use? That is precisely why Bryan started to collect post-use, single-use chopsticks from restaurants, thoroughly clean them, sanitize them at extremely high temperature and pressure, and use them to make high-quality accents for the consumer’s living space. That is exactly what you get at Chopstick Art- High quality recycled home furniture.
Bryan on a pile of Chopsticks…
The range varies from wall hangings, to folding bowls. The amount of variety available makes you wonder how much you have wasted al these years with all those chopsticks you have thrown away. It really helps reduce waste and save hundreds of trees too! One must congratulate Bryan on this noble endeavor and one wish him nothing but the very best in his effort to save the planet. For my part though, I’m just not using or going to use any chopsticks. That way, I save the planet and my own dignity!
