Helping the Environment Through Recycling and the Use of Bamboo

Author: nealon52@aol.com

Bamboo is world reknown for being the fastest growing wood on the earth. Bamboo can grow to maturity in seven years as opposed to an American Oak or Maple that take over twenty years to reach a harvestable growth. In addition to how fast it grows, it's geographic coverage is expanding as well, since it can grow in virtually any climate. It is a tough, durable wood, that can be stained to resemble most other hard woods or at the same time it can be a natural color that is very popular with today’s modern designs. So why else should bamboo be apart of your house? And will it really help with the environment and consumer recycling?
First you should realize that bamboo is being used in many of today’s products without us even realizing it. Even though bamboo shoots are relatively skinny, the material is being used in everything from flooring, to cabinets, to doors. As mentioned before, bamboo can be stained and it then resembles almost any other wood – from this it has been substituted in many wood products. What this means is that since people are not doing their part to help the environment, bamboo can be used as a “stop gap” until the recycling idea catches up with everyone.




Believe it or not bamboo and the idea of recycling are related. The problem is that many people in our society do not recycle. Because of this -- civilization is forced to consume more natural resources. It is a natural and easy reaction for someone not to recycle or be conscious of their action, but unfortunately these small actions add up to enormous consequences. Why should someone recycle when it is easier to just throw it away as garbage? This is the mentality the last generation grew up with and it now has led to many problems. The lack of recycling leads to a spider web of collateral damage that forces consumer prices upward and eventually makes the cost of living higher. So how does bamboo contribute to the solution, not the problem?


By simply using bamboo products, like bamboo fencing, bamboo flooring, and even bamboo cutting boards (just to name a few); these things can cut out the use of other products that have a much larger and deeper detrimental effect on the environment. For example, bamboo flooring: it is just as durable or even more durable then regular hard wood flooring but it does not warrant the huge environmental impact that a hard wood produces. Or the next example can be shown by relating any type of paper recycling to bamboo production. Paper and paper products are mostly made from wood. Any paper that you are not recycling causes more trees to be destroyed and thus causes more environmental damage. Any environmental damage produces higher consumer costs. It is a trickle down effect, consuming natural resources eventually leads to shortages that cause prices to increase. Bamboo on the other hand renews much quicker and can be used to fill voids in certain types of paper production. This means– if enough paper is not recycled, bamboo can be used to help to fill that void, until we are better equipped and educated to recycle more paper.


These are simple ideas but they can lead to positive effects. Look at gas prices, they have increased and because of it many other products, businesses, and prices in our economy were affected. It is the same basic idea with bamboo and recycling, it is not as direct of an impact, but by using these products or ideas, a little bit of effort will help to go a long way. Because we are not consuming new resources, recycling or using bamboo products will eventually cut costs; having less consumption will cause a positive affect throughout the economy and lead to lower prices and production costs.