Cutting down fewer trees by far, and in their place, using bamboo which is just as attractive, equally as durable and produced with an environmental conscience is bound to have a positive effect on the mindset of consumers choosing their floor treatments.
Aside from those issues, however, is the fact that bamboo is ‘clean and green’. It is able to be manufactured without harmful effluents making their way into the air, soil or water. Due to its lightweight, bamboo is more easily transported without the fuel-wasting considerations of much heavier materials. As history evolves, bamboo flooring is making itself known as a true revolution in home décor.
Bamboo is an excellent renewable resource which can be harvested every 5 years. As a result, no forests are destroyed to make bamboo flooring, ceiling systems, furniture boards, furnishings etc.
Like most other grasses, bamboo has strong resistance to diseases, insects and climatic injuries. Growing bamboo also requires minimal labour effort.
Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on earth. The tallest species can grow over 41cm per day... that is nearly 3m in 1 week. Bamboo attains its full and mature height in just one growing season, with some varieties growing more than 36 metres.
All bamboo is hollow. Stalks are comprised of multiple air tight sections, making it very light weight and strong.
Bamboo is a renewable resource. When harvested the clump will automatically grow new shoots the following season, fully replacing the quantity harvested and eliminating the need for replant tree seedlings like in our northern hemisphere forests. The same clump can be re-harvested in 1 to 6 years depending on the type of bamboo.
To truly appreciate how fast bamboo grows, it yields 25 times more wood per acre per year than our northern hardwood forests.
The Chinese, the inventors of paper, used the inner pulp of the bamboo stalk to make some of the first papers ever. Other traditional uses for bamboo include: musical instruments, fishing rods, drinking cups and buckets, walls and structural post & beams, wicker furniture, irrigation pipes, rafts, carpets, phonograph needles, knives, other eating utensils and weapons such as bows, arrows and spears. Believe it or not, even fine clothing has been made from specially milled bamboo fibres.
As a modern building material no other product comes close to bamboo in its diversity of uses. Today, you can buy flooring, countertops, doors, fine furniture, wall coverings, architectural mouldings and much more. In fact, you can build a modern home made entirely of bamboo products. Around the world, it is estimated that over 1 billion people live in basic homes made from bamboo.
What other plant has given us so many useful, durable and environmentally sound products throughout the millennium. What else does bamboo behold for our future...? Bamboo will play a greater and greater role in our future, thanks to it being one of the most important sources of top quality building material and decor product fibre in the world. While the history of bamboo flooring is only just beginning, its environmentally friendly impact will hopefully last forever.