Bamboozled!

By Keith Heyde

I’ll be honest. I love bamboo. I recently just acquired a new bamboo water bottle from, none other than the bamboo water bottle company inc.

My recent purchase, coupled with my history of bamboo related purchases got me thinking: is bamboo actually all its chocked up to be?

For those of you without much knowledge about bamboo, here is a product breakdown in a nutshell: super fast grower, strong wood, flexible, and when brushed looks really cool.

I have a bamboo water bottle, bamboo iphone case, bamboo wall tapestry, and believe it or not, even a wetsuit that is made partially from bamboo fibers.

Now, I buy bamboo mostly because I think it looks extraordinarily cool. I love the striped look it has and I think it evokes feelings of a peaceful, eastern Zen garden.

Yet many people purchase bamboo (at least partially) due to the environmental benefit of buying an ‘organic’ product.

But how beneficial is buying bamboo products, really?

First of all, bamboo is a rapid grower. This allows it to be used for industrial processes. However, bamboo’s rapid growth also causes the soil it grows in to be feverishly reduced of all nutrients. In a natural setting, this can cause immense havoc to local ecosystems since bamboo rapidly, and indiscriminately deteriorates the areas it grows, causing other plant species to die.

Even in an industrial setting, bamboo’s rapid growth can cause great problems, since its growth requires excessive supplemental fertilizers. As with most agricultural settings, these excess fertilizers can lead to harmful runoff as well as phosphorous depletion and shock.

Secondly, bamboo is a tricky and rampant species. It grows indiscriminately and therefore has the capacity to spread out without any rhyme or reasons. As ridiculous as it may sound, many woods within New England are plagued by bamboo patches that were either the consequence of a homeowner’s fickle gardening habits or an industrial side product.

Finally, there is processing. Many bamboo products are solid slabs, sheets, or shaped items. Bamboo grows in circles and so to make a slab requires not only a steamer but often time an intensive gluing and pressing process. This is, of course, energy intensive, and so too are the finishes that most bamboo products have. The glazes that coat them are often petro based (as are most wood stains).

So what is the bottom line? Is bamboo bad? Well, not really. Although it does require a lot of energy to shape and mold, it is far less energy intensive than traditional petrochemical plastics. Since the world of energy efficient nano  particles is a bit far off, and algae based plastics seem an unlikely industrial solution it would seem as if bamboo is a decent fix for the material necessities of today.

At the end of the day, if bamboo is harvested in a controlled, responsible, and sustainable practice, then it is close to the wonder product it claims to be. Either way, I like how it looks, and it’s not all that bad for society, so I’m sticking with it for now.