A Chinese man eats noodles with disposable chopsticks at a restaurant in Beijing Wednesday, March 22, 2006. China announced plans to impose a 5 percent consumption tax on disposable wooden chopsticks, in an effort to discourage consumption of items that are blamed for wasting scarce timber resources. China makes about 15 billion pairs of throwaway chopsticks a year, consuming some 2 million cubic meters (71 million cubic feet) of wood. The new tax takes effect on April 1. [AP]