Morgan BellBamboo might save the planet
May 2nd 2008 05:14
Everyone likes bamboo: it's cool-looking, it's useful, it makes you feel like you're in ancient China, it's fun to say.
But bamboo has an unexpected benefit, especially when combined with skilled horticulture:
"Heard of the United Nations program to plant a billion trees for the planet? Bamboo sequesters carbon dioxide at far higher rates than an equivalent stand of trees and releases up to three times the amount of oxygen."
"With tensile strength up to 52,000 pounds per square inch, bamboo is stronger than most steel, yet its fibers can be spun into a silky cloth blessed by natural antimicrobials.
...Unlike cotton, bamboo doesn't require pesticides to flourish. It needs modest amounts of water to thrive — some species rise a foot a day during growing season — and its root system can help stabilize hillsides and prevent erosion."
...Unlike cotton, bamboo doesn't require pesticides to flourish. It needs modest amounts of water to thrive — some species rise a foot a day during growing season — and its root system can help stabilize hillsides and prevent erosion."
It's a fascinating plant with so many uses that we'd be better off going green. Jackie Heinricher figured out how to clone bamboo in a test tube and her company, Boo-Shoots Gardens, now produces over 2 million seedlings a year.
2 million a year and a foot a day? That means that all of the Boo-Shoot bamboo is growing 50 000 km every week. That's a lot of bamboo!
I'm in favour of planting big crops of bamboo in areas that have been deforested. The bamboo in Australia is quite pretty and gives the green parts of Sydney an interesting style. If only we had some fluffy pandas to go with it...
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Comment by Damo
I am Not too keen on too much Bamboo proliferation.
The roots are terrible and wreck every building that they touch.
Comment by Anonymous
woooh im so cool