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Bamboo is turning out to be one of the most important plants to the modern green movement. You may have heard me extol the virtues of bamboo before—and for good reason. It's the fastest growing woody plant in the world, and it can be used as material in the construction of a slew of goods—flooring, bed sheets, paper, and even laptops are now being made with bamboo.
This is good news because the fast-growing, regenerative nature of bamboo means that it's a far more renewable resource than trees—which, as you know, take years to grow and harvest, and are being logged for use in products at devastating rates worldwide.
But just how fast does bamboo really grow?
In the right conditions, bamboo grows at an astonishing rate of 2 inches an hour, according to Green by Design. And conservative estimates place its growth rate around 24 inches a day—and considering that it takes some oak trees 120 years to reach maturity, that sort of rapid, renewable growth starts sounding pretty good as an alternative material.
However, there are still plenty of problems with bamboo, and reasons that the plant hasn't taken over trees as our primary source of construction material—for one, it's a lot less tough than wood, and a lot less sturdy. Secondly, nearly all bamboo used in the US now is shipped over from China (where, by the way, the industry sustains 6 million people's livelihoods). Finally, most bamboo is not yet in a position to be seen as a truly green alternative: growers use pesticides, clear cut rainforests to plant it (thus voiding its tree-saving advantages), and there's no fair trade system in place to ensure bamboo growers are adequately compensated. Smith & Fong does have FSC Certification.
In other words, bamboo has a long ways to go. But its future is bright.
More on Bamboo:
Is Bamboo Clothing Truly Green?
Wear Bamboo Underwear: It's Comfy
Greenvention: Bamboo Hard Drive
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