I was perusing articles and blogs, as I normally do and a title of one article caught my eye - Bamboo鈥檚 bad reputation belies it鈥檚 usefulness printed in Austin, Texas-based Statesman.com. Besides the use of the word 鈥渂elies鈥 in a major news publication headline (a great underused word!), I was struck by what is meant by 鈥渂ad reputation鈥. Well, bamboo has a bad reputation in the world of gardening, as it turns out. Bamboo is a tenacious plant. Since it is so tenacious, it鈥檚 hard to remove once it鈥檚 in there.
The author of the article, in trying to see about removing it from his backyard, discovered just how tough this plant actually is. He found out how its strength has been utilized in the past, and how bamboo may be a solution to all kinds of problems in the future, too. In short, he gained a new respect for it. And bamboo is a pretty incredible plant, even when talking about products made from it. I鈥檓 not just talking about flooring here. Bamboo is used for the manufacturing of a great many products, from furniture to clothing. Yet, it鈥檚 also a crop which revitalizes soil, and offers an incredibly efficient means of removing CO2 from the air, arguably better than many trees. The article even references research into bamboo bio fuel.
It seems to me that the bamboo plant was made for modern life, even though it has a pretty large role in ancient history too - building, artwork, even philosophy and religious traditions have employed bamboo in some way. And harvesting bamboo is like cutting your lawn, since bamboo is a type of grass which is incredibly fast growing (like your lawn). And what鈥檚 more, it seems to have an application in nearly every area of life, from alternative fuels, textiles, framing for temporary housing after natural disasters, and on to bringing alternative crops to underdeveloped areas of the world. It is an absolutely amazing plant, which people and organizations are rightly turning toward in this age of environmental crisis.
For more information about bamboo in general, check out this site, which is an 鈥榚verything you need to know鈥 Squiddo lens about the bamboo species. And please tell me what you think!
