Bamboo Products Open New Markets

Green Sustainable Pollution-fighting Agroforestry a Growing Sector

Dec 9, 2008

Bamboo, the fastest growing plant, is now being manufactured into virtually everything from flooring, paneling, furniture, fencing, to dishes, clothing, and toothpicks.

Versatile Bamboo is an excellent renewable resource for Agroforestry and is a growing sector in the Global Market. Bamboo can be grown and harvested with no negative impact on the environment, often grown without the need for irrigation or pesticides, and can be selectively harvested annually and regenerated without the need to replant. Because of its high nitrogen consumption, bamboo naturally combats water pollution and by its high rate of growth helps to reduce carbon dioxide gases believed by many scientists to cause global warming.

Throw Out Your Cotton Underwear!

With natural antibacterial and antifungal qualities and twice the absorbency of cotton, bamboo is a great fabric choice for clothing such as underwear, T-shirts and socks. Bamboo clothing and accessories are sprouting up in stores across the Western Hemisphere. Tauted as Green by some and discounted by others as not green enough, bamboo fabric manufacturing is developing into a new, global industry.

The growing and harvesting aspect of bamboo agroforestry is the promising, eco-friendly part of the process. The manufacturing of the bamboo into fabric is the part brought into question by some green activists for the toxic chemical processes that harm the environment and workers, similar to many other non-green fabrics. The LA Times' Blog Emerald City writes "Bamboo clothing is greener than conventional clothing, even though the processing of bamboo brings up some environmental and labor concerns. To ensure that your clothing is free of dangerous chemicals, try asking about Oeko-Tek 100 certification. This certification usually isn't on the product tag, but many bamboo retailers with this certification will mention it on their literature or websites."

Harder than Wood and Stronger than Steel

Bamboo is harder than most hard woods, actually 16% harder than maple, the most common wood used on cutting boards; making Bamboo a greater choice for durability. According to the Associated Press, January 30, 2008: "[Bamboo is] lighter than steel but five times stronger than concrete...And unlike slow-to-harvest timber, bamboo's woody stalks can shoot up several feet a day, absorbing four times as much world-warming carbon dioxide."

Over 1 billion people live in homes built from bamboo. Bamboo is used as scaffolding all over Asia and is used in construction applications such as structural beams, sub flooring, paneling, and roofing. Marketed in the United States in the past mostly as patio furniture, bamboo has now hit the big time and is growing in its reputation as an alternative to wood in almost every application, from cutting boards to building materials.

Bamboo is a wood-like grass that grows back after being harvested and matures within 5-7 years versus the average 50+ year cycle of typical hardwoods. Bamboo is native to every continent except Europe and Antarctica. Could it be that the answer to sustainable, eco-friendly building and product manufacturing needs has been right out in our backyard?

The copyright of the article Bamboo Products Open New Markets in Natural Products is owned by Pamela Palmer. Permission to republish Bamboo Products Open New Markets in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.