A sushi-loving university student has found a way to turn thousands of used wooden chopsticks discarded by Vancouver restaurants each day into functional décor for local residents' homes.
Like disposable knives, forks, coffee cups and shopping bags, chopsticks are often only used for a few minutes before being tossed in the trash.
Thinking about the amount of time, effort and energy that goes into the production of the utensils found in many Vancouver eateries, Felix Bock decided he'd find another purpose for the otherwise trash-bound sticks.
Bock, a PhD student in the University of British Columbia's forestry program, started collecting chopsticks from local restaurants. He then came up with a way to transform them into sleek cutting boards, coasters, countertops and serving trays.
Bock founded ChopValue, a line of wooden products made from the chopsticks discarded from more than 2,000 Vancouver-area restaurants. It is estimated that more than 100,000 bamboo chopsticks are thrown away every day in Metro Vancouver.
"When you look at it from a resource perspective… You quickly realize how large the volume is that we throw out," he said.
"I just took $200 of my teaching assistant's money at UBC and said, OK, I am going to invest it in recycling bins," he said.
He installed chopstick recycling bins in several restaurants, the contents of which are then sorted and cleaned. Once sanitized, the sticks are coated in resin and dried.
Then, they are placed into trays and transferred into a hot press. Heat and pressure turn them into the square tiles he uses to make his products.
"Really cool stuff is happening because of it," he said.
Many restaurants are not only recycling, but buying Bock's creations made from their customers' discarded sticks.
With a report from CTV National News' Melanie Nagy
