Bamboo is more than panda food, and because it grows exceedingly fast, this prolific grass is the ultimate renewable resource. Some young bamboo plants can grow up to two feet per day! Add its flexible characteristics to the mix, and it’s easy to see why people of South and East Asia have been using it to make everything from toothpicks to bridges for ages. And, though, bamboo is still used in these traditional ways today, it’s become a plant with an extraordinary amount of applications. Here are just a few examples:

Food: In some areas of the world, parts of the bamboo plant are consumed as food. The “culms” which are underground and the shoots are both prepared in various ways and then consumed. The shoots are used in many Asian countries as a vegetable–sometimes eaten raw, or steamed and boiled. Bamboo leaves are also used as wrappers for steamed dumplings, which usually contains glutinous rice and other ingredients, and pickled bamboo, used as a condiment, may also be made from the pith of the young shoots.

China makes beer from bamboo, and the sap of young stalks tapped during the rainy season may be fermented to make ulanzi (a sweet wine) or simply made into a soft drink.

Construction: You may have already known this, but in some cases bamboo is virtually as strong as steel and is valuable for building homes and even some larger structures. Bamboo is especially useful in construction too because it is very flexible, which is useful in areas where earthquakes and cyclones are common.

One of bamboo’s strongest points is that it’s inexpensive, even though it’s superior in strength to many other traditional Western building materials, and it has been calculated that a 173-acre bamboo plantation is sufficient to build 1000 bamboo houses per year. If these houses were built with timber, 1482 acres of natural forest would be destroyed each year.

After bamboo has been split and treated with glue, the resulting bamboo boards can be used for nearly any purpose where lumber is currently used. The advantage to using bamboo is that the strip boards allow a larger unbroken breadth larger than what can be achieved with most timber products that are available today. These boards are also stronger.

Technology: Bamboo has even been used in the technology field. The computer hardware producer, Asus, has recently launched the first ever laptop with an outer casing made from bamboo. It is currently available in France and they’re calling it the “ecolo”.

Household Items: Bamboo has been used for sewing needles for many years, particularly in Asia. Additionally, Bamboo has long been used to make cutting boards, furniture, baskets, window blinds, vases, etc. There’s also a U.S. patent which describes a vacuum cleaner bag made of bamboo fabric!

Instruments: Bamboo’s natural hollow form makes it an obvious choice for many instruments. Flutes can be traced back to ancient Egypt, though they are not the only kind of musical instruments that can be made from bamboo. Bamboo can also be used to make xylophones, drums, rattles, stamping pipes, chimes, etc. Bamboo has a very pleasant resonant quality that makes it a fine material for musical instruments.

Sportsware: Bamboo’s flexibility, strength and buoyancy make it a perfect match for sporting goods such as fishing poles, snowboards, bikes, boats, rafts, trailers and surfboards, etc.

Paper: Bamboo has been used as a source of paper in Asia for many years. Just like wood, paper can be made from bamboo cane pulp, which is what a commercial process would use, or from the sheaths from new bamboo canes.

Medicinal: Bamboo is used in Chinese medicine for treating infections and healing, and bamboo is said to be a tonic for the respiratory diseases. Bamboo is also a low-calorie source of potassium, and it is known for its sweet taste and as a good source of nutrients and protein. Recently, a life science company, Entegrion, was asked by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to develop an affordable bandage that would quickly stop bleeding in combat-inflicted wounds. In looking for a solution, Entegrion turned to local textile manufacturers to help it come up with a solution. The result? The first hemostatic bamboo bandage was developed for surface cuts, wounds, nosebleeds and surgical uses.

Textiles: For those who are sensitive to some materials, bamboo clothing and bamboo sheets may be an excellent choice. It has several major advantages over cotton and other fibers. This includes its breathability and its naturally antibacterial state. Bamboo fabric feels great against the skin, and it has been compared to silk in terms of its softness.

Bamboo fabric also has excellent moisture absorption because of the many micro-gaps and holes in the material. This makes it an excellent choice of fiber for anyone who has problems with excessive sweating. Not only does bamboo feel as light and soft as silk, it has the durability of cotton.

See all of the available items that Green Earth Bamboohas to offer, such as bamboo bedding, bamboo clothing and bamboo baby clothes.

So, when you’re making future purchases–no matter what the product–consider buying bamboo-based products. Though there’s still discussion about the exploitation of bamboo and its associated production processes, bamboo is readily renewable, it’s sustainable and it has a lot less environmental impact than chemical-laden crops, traditional forest destruction and petroleum-based materials.

1. All About Bamboo: The Basics
2. Bamboo is Destroying Our Planet

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