Bamboo has found its way into the U.S. marketplace big-time—from mainstream home-improvement stores that now regularly showcase bamboo flooring, to shops that offer towels, sheets and even clothes made from the plant’s fibers.

Aside from any economic advantages, the rise in the manufacture of bamboo products also is grounded in sound environmental thinking, say two ecologically minded Arizona business owners. They note that unlike trees that take many years to grow and are gone once cut, certain species of bamboo can grow tall quickly and replenish themselves in a short time, if harvested with care.

“As concern increases about the use of hardwoods and the depletion of forests, there has been increased attention paid to bamboo, which is rapidly renewable,” Santosh Rao, owner of Natural Territory in Scottsdale, comments.  

“Bamboo can renew itself in about five years,” according to Glendon Good, owner of Abraxas Arts Inc. in Sedona. In addition, the furniture maker reports, “An industry test for [wood] hardness shows that bamboo is harder than oak.”

The Chinese have known of bamboo’s strength and versatility for more than 5,000 years, says Rao, employing it in furniture-making, construction and more. So, why has the plant’s worth only recently been heralded in the West? For Good, the answer is simple. “The entire culture is waking up to the facts of life, that it is better to produce products that are sustainable.”

GREEN GRAIN Created of vertical-grain bamboo panels from Teragren® Fine Bamboo Flooring, Panels & Veneer, this master bath accent wall is as attractive as it is earth-friendly. Teragren turns sustainably harvested Chinese bamboo into solid panels, as shown, and also into veneers, both of which are used by custom woodworkers in a variety of applications, a company source notes.

BOWLED OVER    Bamboo is fashioned into hand-coiled bowls in a range of hues in Lacquerware from Bambu. Two types of lacquer are used on the waterproof product—food-safe polyurethane and a natural lacquer derived from the cashew nut tree. Suitable for both hot and cold foods, the product cleans easily with warm, soapy water or a damp cloth. Plates and other tabletop items also are available.

OH, SO SOFT Made from a combination of spun-together bamboo and cotton, towels from Nandina feel as soft as cashmere. The company states that its bamboo is plantation-grown and responsibly harvested, its cotton raised without harmful pesticides or chemicals, and its highly absorbent towels woven in Japan on wind-powered looms.

CASE IN POINT From Abraxas Arts Inc. comes the Hathor line of Contemporary casegoods. One of several options in the collection, this rolling credenza is crafted of two materials: responsibly harvested bamboo that is made into solid wood panels; and brushed aluminum, whose light-reflective surface is achieved without the use of chemical-plating procedures.

DIDJA KNOW? Bamboo, a grass, has more than 1,000 species, some of which can grow a foot or more in a day and reach 100 feet tall.
—From Bamboos (TimberPress Inc.), by Christine Recht and Max F. Wetterwald