| Many consumers are doing their part to find | | | | believe using bamboo as an alternative building |
| eco-friendly household goods, lighting and other | | | | material or resource can help to alleviate the use |
| methods of recycling waste to cut down the | | | | of these woods. |
| impact that many of these things have on our | | | | A furniture manufacturer in the United States by |
| environment and natural resources. Furniture is | | | | the name of Ramblin Wood actually decided that |
| also something can be explored in terms of finding | | | | they wanted to offer beds in an alternative wood |
| green alternatives. One such alternative is in the | | | | source to help provide customers with the choice |
| form of bamboo. | | | | of getting furniture made with eco-friendly |
| Bamboo is featured in many products from | | | | materials. They visited the Las Vegas market |
| chopsticks, fencing, musical instruments, flooring, | | | | which led them to California and eventually took |
| and of course furniture. The pulp from the | | | | them all the way to Shanghai China where they |
| bamboo plant can also be turned into material or | | | | discovered a manufacturer making moso bamboo |
| fabric for use in products like mattress coverings, | | | | boards for building and construction. They toured |
| clothing and other uses. Something else that the | | | | the plant as well as the countryside where the |
| bamboo plant produce are called shoots. These | | | | bamboo was being harvested and replanted and |
| shoots are cylindrical almost in the shape of a | | | | were quite amazed by the fact that there was |
| tusk and protrude out away from the base of | | | | no clear cutting. The bamboo was being reseeded |
| the plant. In China these shoots are harvested in | | | | so quickly that no sooner had bamboo been |
| the spring and winter. The outer part of the | | | | harvested people were preparing the soil for |
| shoot is peeled off and they can be cooked and | | | | replanting. This seemed to them to be a |
| eaten. Chinese consider these a vegetable and | | | | responsibly harvested resource with little to no |
| can be found throughout markets during the | | | | impact on the environment and Ramblin Wood |
| different seasons that they are harvested. | | | | decided to begin importing the moso bamboo |
| Bamboo is often mistaken as a hardwood from | | | | boards into the United States for creating |
| China. It is true that Bamboo is found throughout | | | | bamboo beds, nightstands, bed drawers and |
| Asia and most of China however bamboo is | | | | dressers. |
| actually classified as a plant or a grass. Bamboo | | | | After reading this article I hope you'll find that |
| grows very quickly and as it matures the stalk of | | | | bamboo is an ecological friendly choice as an |
| the bamboo grass hardens considerably and | | | | alternative to other building resources. Bamboo |
| typically within 5-7 years many species of | | | | beds, musical instruments, flooring and kitchen |
| bamboo plants have reached almost 60-70 feet | | | | cutting boards are just a few of the many uses |
| tall at which time they can be harvested. | | | | that bamboo can offer. Bamboo is classified as a |
| Compare this with the fact that most oak and | | | | grass and because it can be grown, harvested |
| maple trees of the same size take between | | | | and reseeded so quickly it makes its usefulness |
| 40-45 years to reach this same height says a lot | | | | as a responsible alternative to hardwoods very |
| about the quick maturity of bamboo plants. Once | | | | apparent. Bamboo is also a source of food in |
| harvested bamboo can usually be reseeded in | | | | many Asian countries and this further increases |
| about 3 months where the grass will again grow | | | | its worth as a resource which sets it apart from |
| quickly replenishing the land in a short amount of | | | | hardwoods. Alternative building materials like |
| time. This cannot be said however for hardwood | | | | bamboo make sense not only for our homes but |
| trees like oak and maple that require decades of | | | | also for our planet. |
| growth. That is why many environmentalists | | | | |