Why Bamboo?

Since starting my online Bamboo Company, 100bamboo.com, I’ve been asked many times what made me choose Bamboo as a product to retail and market. Quite simply a visit to China.

The Telegraph Traveler quotes: ‘ With its high-octane energy, can-do drive, teeming population and challenging language barrier, China can be an exhausting destination for the first-time visitor.’

It sure was an eye-opener and I have never, in my 15 plus years of western travel felt anywhere near as ‘novice’ as I did in Beijing and the surrounds. The people are focused, driven to proceed with their daily lives and do not seem to be bothered by tourists gawking and observing their remote and eastern lives.

China is a big, diverse country and smart travellers will narrow down their must-see list to a select few destinations. Approached wisely, China is as uplifting as it is intriguing. It is also an essential stop for anyone hoping to learn more about the direction the world is taking this century.

Bamboo plays a vital role in Chinese culture and its influence can be found in almost every facet of life. This was long before it was popular for anything other than flooring the in the UK, and I realised that perhaps the Chinese are embracing this super plant, technically a grass, for it’s diversity, durability and most importantly it’s longevity as they know more than any of us that once raw materials are exploited, it’s a matter of time before they become farmed, manipulated, and possibly a shadow of it’s former self.

With Bamboo growing up to 3 feet per day in peak growing seasons, it’s quite comprehensible that this raw material is going to remain a lot more sustainable than it’s cotton and wool counter-parts.

Discovering, feeling and using bamboo linens in China for the first time, made me see a gap in our UK and European offerings for this soft, luxurious and most importantly sensible choice of raw material.

We now offer Bed Lines, Towels, Blankets and Socks and hope to expand further into home textiles and culinary goods in the coming year.

Eco-furniture buying

The "organic" certification doesn’t exist in the furniture category as it does in food and clothing. While some items will have organic material and paints/treatments etc, organic alone isn’t the be-all, end-all when it comes to furnishing your home with eco-friendly materials.

As a general rule, always try ad source organic fabrics and fills and certified ecologically harvested wood, bamboo, non-toxic finishes, fair trade, local, artisan-crafted or reclaimed finds.

Starting with fabrics, you are likely to find:

•Organically Upholstered furniture: Look for chairs and sofas covered in organic fabrics and stuffed with natural latex foam.

•Mattresses: Organic cotton, organic wool and natural latex are all good alternatives to the materials used to create conventional mattresses.

•Futons: Organic mattresses are pricey — there’s no question about it. Futons can be a cost-effective alternative, and you don’t have to use them on those funky, tough-to-sit-on folding frames; there are platforms and flat frames available, too.

Wood furniture:

Many newly manufactured wood items these days carry FSC logo on them.  The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), an international non-profit that encourages sustainable forestry, offers FSC certification to companies that harvest wood in accordance to FSC’s requirements.

Buy a piece of furniture made from FSC-certified wood and you’ll actually be able to trace the wood to where it was harvested, as these products have to go through a chain-of-custody certification process in order to carry the FSC stamp. And if it’s polished with a no-VOC finish and upholstered with organic fabrics — wool, cotton and the like — you’ll have a piece of furniture that’s as close to being organic as you can get.

Consider bamboo

Although technically not a wood (it’s a grass), it looks like wood, and it is typically grown with few to no pesticides. And, because it grows so fast, sustainability isn’t much of a concern. Bamboo is used for a vast amount of everyday items these days and is featuring more and more in modern design. It’s strength and durability are making it ever more popular in the furniture industry.

Steer clear of toxic materials and finishes

The simplest way to avoid toxins like formaldehyde and PBDEs is to buy furniture made from materials that don’t contain them.

Upholstery marked as stain resistant has most likely being treated with Teflon which is the product most often used to make fabrics stain resistant. Teflon contains perflurorchemicals (PFCs), which can break down into a toxic blood contaminant called perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA. There’s been some back and forth about whether fabric treatments and the like release a dangerous amount of PFOA, but in the research done on this substance, Enviroblog, a project of EWG’s Action Fund, reports that over 90 percent of Americans are showing PFOA in their blood, making it a prudent choice to limit your exposure to PFOA as much as possible.

Source local/artisan and locally grown materials

Buying from the source works as well with furniture as it does with organic food. Look for locally produced and artisan furniture in local newspapers and classified ad sites, and at craft fairs. Look for handmadel furniture made from salvaged wood and metal, organic wool and cotton, and recycled fabrics. This also reduces airmiles that sure wrack up pollution bills when considering the thousands of miles many new items travel from China.

Recycle, reclaim or re-purpose

Creatively reusing or recycling everyday objects into completely different things is a great way to come up with furniture and accessories that are truly one-of-a-kind items. It can also reduce the volume of waste sent to landfills. According to the American Society of Interior Designers, 90 percent of everything manufactured in the United States ends up in landfills less than a year after production.

Uses of Bamboo

What products can be made from bamboo? There is a famous Asian saying; "A man is born in a bamboo cradle and goes away in a bamboo coffin. Everything in between is possible with bamboo!"

Forestry:

• Erosion Control
• Soil Stabilization
• Environmental Remediation
• Windbreaks
• CO2 Sequestration
• Sound Screens
• Landscaping

Wood Industry:

• · Laminate Flooring
•   Beams
•   Poles

• Paper Industry:
• Newsprint
• Bond Paper
• Toilet Tissue
• Cardboard
• Cement Sacks
• Coffee Filters

Textiles:

• Clothing
• Underwear
• Socks
• Bullet Proof Vests
• Blankets
• Towels
• Sheets
• Pillows
• Mattresses
• Baby Diapers

Food and Drinks:

• Bamboo Shoots
• Bamboo Wine
• Bamboo Tea
• Bamboo Beer
• Bamboo Vinegar
• Charcoal Coated Peanuts

Automotive industry:

• Steering Wheels
• Dashboards
• Interior Trim
• Body Parts

Sports and recreation

•   Bicycles
•   Skateboards
•   Surfboards
•   Snowboards
•   Polo Balls
•   Baseball Bats
•   Ski Poles
•   Fishing Rods
•   Helmets
•   Inline Skates

Electronics

• iPhone/IPad Cases
• Mouse
• Keyboards
• Headphones
• Speakers
• Laptops

Farming

• Greenhouses
• Fencing
• Fish Traps
• Farming Tools
• Baskets
• Animal Fodder
• Beehives
• Containers
• Animal Pens
• Props and Support Sticks
• Water Pipes
• Waterwheels

With a list like this, it’s little wonder why bamboo continues to grow more popular in the main stream economy and more international investment is being granted to the bamboo economy. Lets hope the organisational bodies controlling these ventures maintain the ethos of protecting the raw material rather than exploiting it.

Consider trying something new in Bamboo to experience the benefits yourself. Perhaps some Bamboo Linens from 100bamboo.com. Luxury linens, blankets, towels and more that wont 'cost the earth'.

Decorating with Bamboo

The New Bamboo

It can grow more than three feet in a single day, replenish itself with abandon, release 35 percent more oxygen than its fellow plants, and thrive without pesticides. But those eco-friendly qualities are probably not what attracted architect William Merchant to bamboo back in 1939, when he appointed an entire room in the knuckled grass at a design exposition in San Francisco, sparking a craze that captivated the era's most audacious decorators. More than 70 years later, bamboo has made a comeback as a design material. But this time, it has a larger range than ever.

Natural Neutral

"The possibilities for using bamboo have expanded exponentially in the last 15 years with the advent of new technology and machinery," says Susanne Lucas, executive director of the nonprofit World Bamboo Organization. The fastest-growing plant in the world shows up in all kinds of products, including flooring, furniture, and textiles. "I am really impressed with the upholstery fabric," Martha Stewart Living's Kevin Sharkey says. "Bamboo blends are available in damasks, stripes, and wovens, and none of them look like tatami mats. Even more impressive is how they feel. The fabrics are as soft as cashmere but more durable."

Golden bamboo pieces, such as the lamp and the room divider, bring warmth to a space. The window shade, the sofa fabric, and the small throw pillow are also made with the grass.

Pretty and Practical Details

The engineered wood flooring is made of strips of bamboo adhered to a plank made of other types of wood. This blend of woods is thought to make engineered bamboo floors tougher than typical wooden planks. Fabrics woven with a blend of bamboo and cotton, linen, or polyesterare more durable than their purebred counterparts

A Serene Retreat

Striated bamboo -- which shows up on the walls, sink, and furnishings -- gives bathrooms a spa-like feel. Once available in only a few earthy hues, bamboo textiles can now be found in all kinds of elegant colors, such as these muted towels.

Consider Bamboo

Because Bamboo fabrics are naturally anti-microbial and anti-fungal, they tend to repel damp rather than harbour it. This prevents a musty smell developing. Bamboo linens are available at http://www.100bamboo.com/c/56/bamboo-bedding. The range includes Bamboo Bed Linen, Bamboo Blankets and Bamboo Towels and Baby Towels.

Tags :  Bamboo ,  Bamboo Linen ,  Bamboo home Linen

Author: Laura Toursoulopoulos Follow me on Google+