The bamboo conjures the image of a cute, cuddly panda. Beautiful imagery aside, the benefits of bamboo extend beyond keeping this huggable creature alive.
Few of us realize that bamboo plays a large part in protecting the environment. We can give it support by using it in furniture and materials in the home. You will discover the benefits of bamboo and learn how to include it in your projects.
What is bamboo?
The bamboo is an evergreen flowering plant. The word “bamboo” originates from the Portuguese and Dutch languages, which may have borrowed it from Malay. The Malays, in turn, made a variation of it from Kannan.
The bamboo is native to countries that have warm temperate climates. It grows in East Asia and Australia. You may find it in certain parts of Mozambique and Madagascar.
The bamboo is a grass plant, and like other grasses, it is hollow and doesn’t have xylem. There is no secondary growth, so the stems are columnar. This fast-growing plant is rhizome-based and is useful because it has excellent compressive strength. It’s also highly tensile and rivals steel.
8 Benefits of Bamboo That Make It a Great Material for Going Green
Problems with the environment can be a pressing issue that causes concern. Sometimes even small changes or adjustments can help make your lifestyle less damaging to the environment. Choosing materials that work well and are better for the earth can be incredibly rewarding, and bamboo is one of the best plants to grow.
1. Renewability
Perhaps one of the best traits of bamboo is that it is a very renewable resource. Unlike natural wood, which can take decades to grow, or plastics which need chemical manufacturing, bamboo can spring up in just a couple of years. We can use bamboo without the risk of causing any permanent damage. Bamboo could potentially continue to be grown and used for the foreseeable future.
2. Environmental Friendliness
In addition to being renewable, bamboo has other qualities that can make it environmentally friendly. We can recycle and reuse bamboo. Producing bamboo products doesn’t require as heavy use of harmful chemicals as with other materials such as plastic.
Growing bamboo can also be beneficial as the plants prevent soil erosion and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Bamboo takes in carbon dioxide and introduces 35% more oxygen into the atmosphere, lessening the number of greenhouse gases and the need for hardwood trees.
Soil erosion happens when farmers burn tree stumps to create space for new crops. Rain then washes the nutrients and topsoil into the rivers, affecting the lives of the people and animals around them. Bamboo roots prevent erosion and retain nutrients in the soil.
3. Durability and resilience
Another of the bamboo’s many benefits is that it’s naturally sturdy. You can use it to create durable items and structures that last. When constructed properly, bamboo can stand the test of time as well as or better than many kinds of wood, including hardwood.
Bamboo grows in areas where harsh conditions make other crops fail. It thrives in al weather. The roots remain in place and help to keep moisture in the soil.
4. Appearance
Bamboo gives items a simple yet elegant appearance and can is aesthetically pleasing. Products made from bamboo are available in a wide variety of colors and patterns, so you can usually choose products that match other items that you already own.
The natural color of bamboo is often a light cream color or tan, which can be an excellent benefit in itself. This quality makes bamboo especially suitable for use in flooring or other surfaces.
5. Versatility
You may be surprised to learn that versatility is one of the bamboo’s most significant benefits. You can find bamboo in everything from the flooring in houses to furniture. Some types of bamboo such as Cariloha bamboo allow us to replace cotton fabrics with fabric made from bamboo, which is a more environmentally friendly crop.
Versatile bamboo products are more attractive and last longer than comparable choices made from plastic.
6. Job opportunities
The manufacturing of bamboo products is not only environmentally-friendly but also creates jobs for people. It is a valuable crop where there is a need for economic stability; these are typically the areas where the economy takes precedence over the environment.
7. No Fertilizer Needed
While other crops need fertilizer to flourish, bamboo doesn’t. For example, cotton depletes nutrients in the soil and is a crop that uses large amounts of fertilizer. Bamboo, conversely, doesn’t add chemicals to the earth.
8. Little waste
Moreover, almost all parts of the bamboo plant are useable. Manufacturers create a wide variety of products from bamboo and rarely dispose of any of it. It generates little waste and does not harm the environment.
Taking Advantage of Bamboo
The bamboo has a long list of benefits that make it a superior material. You will find that items made from bamboo are often surprisingly affordable while offering you top quality and durability.
Going green is a worthwhile goal, and choosing bamboo as your go-to material can be a great way to get closer to accomplishing it. If you’re considering a remodeling project or want to buy items made from a material that is practical and doesn’t damage the environment, bamboo is a great option.
Maximize the Benefits of Bamboo with These DIY Projects
Bamboo scores an A for its versatility. Its durability and strength make it suitable for many design projects. Here are a few simple ways that you can use bamboo yourself.
1. Bamboo Fence
Bamboo poles can be wired together at any height. You can, first of all, wire bamboo together to make a fence. Any length is useful; you may do some creative exploration and arrange the poles in a staggered pattern.
You may use a small bamboo fence to divide a room or create areas where you can get a little privacy. If you’re new to growing bamboo, buy a few poles from a retailer. Turn it 90 degrees before attaching it.
2. Make a flute
Do you have the music in you? Musicians the world over have used bamboo poles to construct pipes for years because they are hollow. Turn bamboo poles into instruments like Angklungs and flutes. Check out the video below to learn how to make one in a few simple steps:
3. Make a Water Feature
Bamboo poles make excellent water features and add to garden landscapes. Turn old bamboo poles into a Japanese Water Hammer. Water flows from the spout on top to the one at the bottom, and finally into a basin. Take the chance to water your plants.
The Japanese used these features to prevent deer from eating their crops. Get some bamboo and identify the closed-off areas. Then, saw off a base for the hammer. Remove the pith from the inside of the bamboo so that water can flow through.
Cut off two pieces for the arms, ensuring that one is thicker than the other. Make these pieces hollow, but don’t do so for the one at the back. Saw off the areas of the arms which are open. The think arm should be shorter than the thick one.
Make two rectangular holes where the arms can fit comfortably. Make holes in them for the water to flow through as well. Test your hammer by pouring in the water at the top of the base and adjusting it until the water flows well.
4. Trailer
Turn the bamboo poles you have into vans or makeshift wagons. Attach them to a bike or add wheels and move them yourself.
5. Trellises
The plastic trellises available at stores can support your plant but aren’t environmentally friendly and don’t last. Just one pole can support a vine.
Cut eight or ten poles per trellis to about the same length. Wind them together in twos or threes. Sink the loose ends into the dirt and attach crossbars across both ends of the poles. String the structure with vertical twine climbers. It supports any vining plant.
6. Wind Chimes
Bamboo wind chimes don’t make the same soothing sounds as metal ones but are still an attractive garden feature. Occupy your child’s mind and get him or her to create one. Turn bamboo poles into sustainable art projects.
Take a long bamboo pole and cut it into six pieces of different lengths. Make sure that the first piece measures about 30 cm because it will act as a base. Two more should be 30 cm while another two should measure 35 cm. The final pole should be 40 cm in length.
Measure about 5cm from the end of each tube and mark it. Use a saw to remove the mark so that you get a slanted edge. To cut holes in each pole, measure 2 cm down the ends that don’t slant. Make a mark along with each one. Drill straight through them to the other side.
To tie the tubes together, string through the drilled holes by tying a knot in one piece of string and threading it through to their base Take the 30cm tube and thread the rope through the drilled hole on the edge that doesn’t slant.
Push it through the bottom of the hole on the base, then through the top hole, moving the knot out of the way to let it through. Secure the rest of the string with another knot so that you get two knots. Do this for all the tubes.
To hang your chime, cut another piece of string that measures 70 cm. Thread it through the bamboo base and knot both ends together. Insert a metal ring so that you can do so quickly.
7. Curtain Rods
Metal rods are stable but boring. Bamboo poles are just as durable. Use them in place in place of the steel ones in your wardrobe or bathroom.
8. Bamboo Knives
A bamboo knife can’t cut through anything too thick but does chop meat efficiently. Take a piece of bamboo about eight inches long and inch wide. Remove the inner pith and leave a thin strip that includes the culm. Decide which end will be the handle.
Ensure that the edges are safe to cut with by sharpening them. Cut off a little from the round corner to make a new one.
The benefits of bamboo for the environment are many, and its versatility means that you can use it in many ways. Try these projects and save the environment.
