So… what do you do when your bamboo item has reached the end of its life? Is bamboo compostable?
Well, this depends greatly upon what the item is composed of… Composting is a great way to recycle yard waste such as leaves, twigs, grass clippings, weeds, and dead houseplants, as well as food scraps from the kitchen. And if you have ever grown bamboo yourself, you will know that some (compostable) garden waste is produced.
Bamboo’s ability to grow in the tropical, subtropical, or even temperate areas makes it an abundantly available plant in the world. As bamboo is so versatile, this renewable resource is often used in many applications, some of which I have covered already, but notably for construction, building & architecture due to its good mechanical properties as a natural building material.
Single-use plastic cutlery is one of the biggest contributors to the plight caused by plastic pollution. There are over 1600 known species, with thousands of uses. One of which is for the production of cutlery.
Jungle Culture have a carpentry studio located approximately 150km from Hanoi, in the rural province of Thanh Hoa, where their bamboo cutlery is hand-carved. The topography of Thanh Hoa province (large swathes of the region are covered in steep, rocky mountains) and the high annual rainfall (3 times more than the average in London) makes it the perfect location bamboo to grow in abundance. The bamboo is then sustainably farmed by the locals who have used it for the construction of their homes and handicrafts for generations.
“35% of all micro plastics in the world’s oceans are from synthetic textiles”
International Union for Conservation of Nature
There are over 1600 known species of Bamboo across many parts of the tropics and subtropics, with thousands of uses – including for the production of fabrics and yarn for the fashion industry.
Why choose (clothing made) from Bamboo fabric?
Bamboo is environmentally friendly: not only is it a renewable resource, but pesticides and fungicides are not required during farming. In fact, there is no other plant used in clothing that is as well-suited and gentle on our precious planet than Bamboo.
Bamboo is a ubiquitous sight across many parts of the tropics and subtropics, and is the fastest growing plant on the planet (reaching full maturity in around 3-5 years) and can be found in Africa, the Asia-Pacific and the Americas. Bamboo can be an important part of sustainable development in the Global South, particularly as a tool for poverty alleviation and climate change mitigation.
Jungle Culture – Jungle Straws
There are over 1600 known species, with thousands of uses. One of which is for the production of drinking straws.
“Lucky Bamboo Trunk” by Alejandro Luengo on Unsplash
Where bamboo grows naturally, it is in daily use. However, its utilisation has not always been sustainable due its exploitation. As technology develops, and new “greener” innovations are made, bamboo is reaching a more contemporary audience worldwide: Bamboo products are now available in more extensive markets, they are gaining acceptance daily, and are changing the way we build our new environment.
World Bamboo Day has been celebrated for over a decade now, in order to increase the awareness of bamboo globally. Zero Waste Llama will be celebrating this day…. all week!
#PlantBamboo
Over next 7 days, we will be showcasing and reviewing Bamboo as an alternative for the products that we use on a daily basis, and we will take a look at what choosing such products, brings to the local economies where it is grown, and the impact that this can make on our environment.
We will present straws to cutlery, toilet paper to tooth brushes… and spin a yarn for those who knit and sew amongst us!
