Welcome to projectCHOPS!

This blog will be a way to document my Design Senior Thesis Project.

So to fill you in on everything..
I've decided to choose re-purposing for my project.
Specifically chopsticks.

After doing some research, I found out that tons of trees are being cut down to make disposable chopsticks and only a quarter of the trees cut get used for the actual production of the chopstick. 

On top of that over 70 billion single-use disposable chopsticks go to waste every year just in China and Japan alone.

So why not turn this waste into something useful and fun?
I'm thinking a light fixture and some sort of fun wall accent piece.

Don't really have an exact image in my head for the final result but I'm sure I'll get there eventually.

To start, I need to collect chopsticks.

I bought buckets, made a simple little sign, and lined them with plastic bags.

The end result is the picture above.

 

I went down Belmont Shore here in Long Beach and stopped by all the restaurants that used chopsticks.

Most of them agreed to help me out. And all of the ones who did were the sushi restaurants.

When walking in there, with my buckets in hand, they were a little confused.
The question of the day was "You want dirty used chopsticks?"

And as I answered "Yep" I received weird looks from their faces. 

I'm hoping to get a couple more restaurants to help out because I'll need lots of chopsticks.

We'll see how much I collect next week. Wish me luck!