Should We All be Using Bamboo in the Future?

Ok, so Bamboo PC’s were just gimmicks. The laptop launched at the Hanover computer fair last March, with a laminated bamboo casing around a pretty conventional computer won’t make a dent in the rising tide of plastics sold around the world.

Even though these bamboo PCs won’t save the environment, they did prove how versatile bamboo really is.

Bamboo must be the only plant on the planet that is a source of food, works as building materials and woven fabrics. Even one of Edison’s original light bulbs had a bamboo filament. Due to bamboo being so strong and cheap, it has become a widely used product for scaffolding in parts of Asia. Fibres from bamboo poles are extremely strong, it both tension and compression terms. It’s compressive strength works out around twice that of concrete, bamboo also has the same tensile strength to weight ratio as steel. And now there’s a bamboo laptop!

Bamboo ticks lots of boxes for anyone buying eco-friendly home furnishings. For a start, it’s a highly sustainable raw material. Some bamboo species are able to grow more than one metre every day. The locals that live close to these fantastic plants are able top cut down as much bamboo as they need while still having the same sized forest at the end of the year as they did at the beginning. As for the global warming problem, because bamboo is a plant, all products made out of the sustainable material contains a large amount of atmospheric carbon. Any plastic equivalent has added to the atmosphere’s carbon level!

Another point would be, because bamboo is a natural material, there are huge variations between the plants, this makes it a very difficult material to be used in mass production. You can be pretty sure that a craftsman has produced any bamboo item you buy. If you buy from a reputable source of eco-friendly products, you’ll know that the craftsman that made the item was paid a fair wage for their time and skills. Finally you’ll be sure that the product you buy hasn’t accumulated air miles in its journey from craftsman to your home.

With eco credentials as strong as these, it’s amazing how beautiful bamboo products are. Just picture a hand crafted bamboo box, layered 15 times with natural shellac. All natural, and really lovely. Only the other day, I bought an amazingly crafted bamboo knife block and am now seriously considering investing in some other bamboo kitchen accessories such as salad bowls. Stylish and ethical. Win.

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