NGO’s lawsuit highlights amount of garbage generated by takeouts

THE NO 4 INTERMEDIATE PEOPLE’S COURT of Beijing has accepted a public interest litigation filed by the Green Volunteer League of Chongqing against the country’s three major takeout delivery platforms, Baidu Waimai, Ele.me and Meituan. Gmw.cn commented on Sunday:

The Chongqing-based NGO’s litigation centers on the disposable plastic utensils used by the takeout delivery providers that use the platforms, which it said create a huge amount of waste and serious damage to ecological systems. Customers ordering takeout meals, it argued, should be offered the choice of whether or not they want disposable chopsticks, knives, forks and spoons.

Such an argument is worthwhile, as it is estimated that about 19.5 million pairs of chopsticks are dispatched each day with orders made through Meituan alone, and the takeout orders across the country are estimated to generate 350 metric tons of garbage or more on a daily basis.

So far, the food delivery platforms are yet to require customers to decide how they want their meals packaged and whether they want disposable utensils.

But the truth, although it may sound harsh to the ears of green campaigners, is that very few customers will place a takeout order without requesting disposable utensils even in metropolises like Shanghai, according to Ele.me. That is reminiscent of the unsuccessful ban on the use of plastic bags enacted nearly a decade ago: people still use plastic bags despite the extra cost.

Pointing fingers at the takeout delivery platforms is easy, but it makes little difference if most customers expect disposable utensils with their food. That said, the campaign against this plastic waste will only succeed when more people become aware of the need to reduce waste and the importance of environmental protection.

It will take time, of course, to instill in people the right ideas about green, sustainable lifestyles. In the meantime, the colossal waste of resources and damage to environment caused by the containers for takeout food and the accompanying utensils could be minimized if they were made of recyclable or biodegradable materials.

Parents and their children may have different expectations of the rewards of studying overseas. Parents often expect children to get high-paying jobs after studying overseas.

However, with China’s development and the number of Chinese students studying overseas increasing, the value of studying abroad has decreased.

And for the young people studying overseas, they expect they will find a job that is interesting, whether or not it offers the social cachet and remuneration their parents hope for. So the girl from Chengdu has chosen to be a masseuse, even though people of her parents’ generation view such a profession as being unseemly.

Many Chinese parents are willing to make study, career and even marriage plans for their children; anything so long as their children adhere to their expectations of what is proper. And that is reasonable, since in most cases, it is the parents who are paying.

Therefore, if children want their personal choices to be respected by their parents, they should be fully responsible for their own lives, which means being financially independent. If young people can return the tuition and any other “investment” made in them by their parents, they will be able to make independent choices. But taking parents’ payments for granted and ignoring their wishes is irresponsible.

To settle the contradiction between parents’ requirement for obedience and young people’s desire for free will requires the latter to be financially independent.