Bamboo to the rescue

A few weeks ago, I had an in-depth conversation with a coworker about his bamboo collection. Other than coveting beautiful bamboo cutting boards , my knowledge of this rhizome was limited. My coworker explained the delightful varieties of bamboo he was growing on his farm...I had no idea so many types of Bamboo existed! This peaked my interest into the uses of bamboo and I stumbled upon a community of bamboo-lovers.

Bamboo shoots are edible, the wood is sustainable and useful for construction.

The following article from the site Truth Out explores the economic and environmental benefits of the fast-growing perennial in the face of disaster.

A 7.5 earthquake in Limón, Costa Rica, in April 1991 destroyed homes built with concrete and rebar, but all 20 of the more-flexible bamboo houses at the earthquake’s epicenter remained standing. When three typhoons swept into the Cook Islands in 2005, one producing winds of 173 mph, they devoured everything in their path — everything, that is, except a group of bamboo houses on the beach.

But in the age of global warming, bamboo has a benefit beyond construction: Both young and mature bamboo plantations capture more carbon than similar stands of trees. In a 2007 paper titled “Sub-optimal Equilibriums in the Carbon Forestry Game: Why Bamboo Should Win and Why It Will Not,” energy specialist Raya Kühne said, “A non-tree species — bamboo — may be one of the species most well-suited to the Clean Development Mechanism’s goals of maximizing carbon revenues and promoting sustainable development.”

Not all types of bamboo are ideal for construction, and without treatment to protect against insects and mold, bamboo houses will last only 15 years or so. But as a construction material, bamboo’s advantages over wood are numerous: It is cheaper to plant, grows faster and can be harvested using less fossil fuel. While trees are typically harvested every 20 to 50 years, bamboo reaches maturity in four to six years and can be cut two or three years after that. Bamboo plants’ rhizome maps grow continuously throughout their life spans — which can be from 10 to more than 100 years — meaning that unlike tree roots, which die and decompose after a tree is harvested, releasing their stored carbon, rhizomes stay alive even after bamboo is harvested.

See Bamboo Living for more!