Bamboo has traditionally been used to make a wide range of everyday utensils. Bamboo is the strongest woody plant on our planet with a tensile Strength superior to that of mild steel.
In many developing countries, bamboo is traditionally considered as the poor man's material. This is obviously due to the abundance of bamboo forests and the relative low level machinery and expertise required to obtain a usable building material in its natural form (ie. round poles). It is used for everything from house framing, flooring, thatch cladding for walls and ceiling, and even as shingles for the roof.
The strength and hardness of bamboo timber is equivalent to hardwood timber while the cost is also comparable to hardwood timber. So why then should people be considering growing bamboo on a commercial level? The simple answer is that it has the potential to be a direct substitute for hardwood timber and thus reducing the pressure on natural hardwood forests.
Bamboo is a pioneering plant in that it can be grown in full sun and tolerates high winds. This enables its use as a starting point in restoring cleared land which may have been damaged by overgrazing or poor farming. Because of the bamboos fast growth and dense foliage, it will quickly deposit a thick layer of leaf litter covering the ground, which will then start restoring degraded soils and re-establishing a cooler micro-climate.
Why Bamboo Is Better Than Plastic For Consumer Goods!
Unlike plastic, which requires a great deal of processing and refining, bamboo only needs to be grown. It grows readily and quickly in many parts of the world (up to three feet a day!). It’s stronger than steel and more durable than many hardwoods, despite its lightweight nature. Bamboo is also easy to work with, and that makes it a great alternative to plastic for many of the products you use every single day.
It’s unlikely that the world will ever get away from using plastic completely, but there’s little doubt that it will reduce its plastic consumption over time. For that to happen, however, manufacturers and merchants must offer alternatives that are user-friendly and safe. Fortunately, it seems that companies now more than ever are getting on the Eco-friendly bandwagon, especially when it comes to using bamboo.
World Bamboo Day
September 18 is World Bamboo Day!
World Bamboo Day is a day of celebration to increase the awareness of bamboo globally. The World Bamboo Organization aims to bring the potential of bamboo to a more elevated exposure – to protect natural resources and the environment, to ensure sustainable utilization, to promote new cultivation of bamboo for new industries in regions around the world, as well as promote traditional uses locally for community economic development.
This celebration was initiated by Mr. Kamesh Salam, former president of World Bamboo Organization, during the 8th World Bamboo Congress held in Bangkok (Thailand) in 2009.
Since then, this day is a world-wide event gathering hundreds of thousands of people to manifest the importance of bamboo as a plant companion for humanity.
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