China Will Begin Taxing Wooden Chopsticks For Environment's Sake

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China will tax wooden chopsticks, golf balls and the yachts of the country's nouveau riche as part of an ambitious plan to slash energy consumption and combat worsening pollution in the world's fastest growing economy. The new taxes, which come into force on 1 April, are aimed at boosting the use of environmentally friendy small-engined cars and motorcycles while slapping hefty new levies on luxury items such as gas-guzzling four-wheel drive vehicles and flashy watches.

The tax on chopsticks will come as a shock to a nation which uses them for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and where many people have never used a knife and fork. The Chinese use 45 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks every year, which adds up to 1.7 million cubic metres of timber or 25 million fully grown trees.

Massive demand for wood takes a heavy toll on the country's forests. In Beijing, deforestation has removed a natural wind barrier between the desert and the Chinese capital, and the wasteland is only hours away from the north of the city. Springtime brings sandstorms and people don masks and scarves against the dusty wind. But with so much pollution in the air from ever-more cars on the road and incessant building on every street corner, the annual sandstorms have taken on a toxic new aspect.

The government has had some success with an ambitious plan to plant millions of trees around the capital, but the new "green" taxes are recognition that something more fundamental needs to be done. The reforms are part of Beijing's latest Five-Year Plan, passed this month by the Communist Party at the country's annual parliament, which pledged to move the nation to a more sustainable growth model with less environmental degradation and greater social equity.

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http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article352979.ece