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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/recycled-chopsticks-sustainable-furniture/>
"Felix Böck remembers the evening five years ago when the solution popped into
his mind while he was having dinner with his girlfriend at a sushi restaurant
in Vancouver. The engineer and carpenter had just returned from a conference
with 60 representatives of the biggest international woodworking companies,
where he had presented sustainable solutions for wood waste. He had garnered
applause for his presentation.
“I expected people to queue up after my talk, eager for more information about
how we can log less timber and use more recycled wood instead,” Böck says, “but
after they applauded, they all went for dinner.”
While he was venting his frustration, “My girlfriend said, Felix, sometimes you
have to start very small.” Still irked, he watched the waiter swipe the used
chopsticks into the trash when the idea hit him: “What if I start really small,
with chopsticks?”
“Suddenly, I understood that I had to show people how circular economy works
instead of just talking about it,” Böck says passionately. “What if I could
build a profitable, sustainable business based on something as small and
insignificant as chopsticks? I immediately got going the next morning because
as an engineer, I already knew it would work.”
Most chopsticks are made from bamboo, a fast-growing plant that is very strong.
With the need for wood increasing by 60 percent worldwide in the last 60 years
— way more than can be logged sustainably — bamboo has often been touted as a
sound alternative. Böck wanted to demonstrate bamboo’s potential as a wood
replacement and keep chopsticks out of landfills. He set out to build a
business that would do both, all while keeping the sourcing and production
local."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
