My Hashi
hashi = chopsticks
waribashi = disposable chopsticks
We are very proud of our InsideJapan Tours 'My Hashi!' Launched at our 10 year anniversary party in 2010, 'My Hashi' have since been sent to all small group tour and honeymoon clients.
From summer 2011, 'My Hashi' will be sent to every single InsideJapan Tours holidaymaker.
Japan gets through 24 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks (waribashi) a year. That's 185 pairs per person. This amounts to A LOT of wood, causing huge deforestation problems, mostly in neighbouring countries such as China.
Some argue that waribashi are made from off cuts of wood that would be wasted anyway. But consider this: the average life span of a pair of disposable chopsticks is just 10 minutes. Open packet of chopsticks, eat food, throw chopsticks away. This results in a massive landfill problem or an equally nasty amount of incineration fumes.
So why do people persist with waribashi? Well, in part it's an issue of culture and hygiene. At home the Japanese are very attached to their chopsticks. Whereas a person in the West would use the first piece of cutlery they grab from the drawer, each family member in Japan has their own specific pair of chopsticks. Woe betide the child that borrows their father's hashi (non-disposable chopsticks)! That's why in restaurants, some Japanese would find it unhygienic to use non-disposable chopsticks, no matter how well they have been washed.
But there is a solution to this problem: carry your own set of chopsticks in a nifty little case. We estimate that the average holidaymaker could easily get though 24 pairs of disposable chopsticks over the course of a two week trip, if not many more.
We hope that by using our InsideJapan Tours 'My Hashi', you can make a small difference to this huge environmental problem.