Why Bamboo?

Bamboo is not a wood, it is a grass. Unlike a tree which can take decades to grow to maturity, bamboo is ready to harvest within 4 to 5 years. This fast growth allows for controlled harvesting of a resource that would otherwise go to waste. This sharply contrasts with the devastation that conventional logging currently has on our forests.

Bamboo is not only ecologically sound, but remarkably beautiful and elegant. Its distinct grains provide an exotic and unique pattern. It is also extremely durable. It is up to 34% harder than red oak and up to 15% harder than maple. Structurally, it is 50% more stable than red oak.

Bamboo protects the environment...and the air we breathe. It is the fastest growing canopy for the regreening of degraded lands, and its stands release 35% more oxygen than equivalent stands of trees. Some bamboo even sequester up to 12 tons of carbon dioxide from the air per hectare. It can also lower light intensity and protects against ultraviolet rays.

Traditional belief holds that being in a bamboo grove - the favorite dwelling place of Buddha - restores calmness to emotions and stimulates creativity. An Ancient Medicine, bamboo has for centuries been used in Ayurvedic medicine. The powdered, hardened secretion from bamboo is used internally to treat asthma, coughs and can be used as an aphrodisiac.

Integrally involved in culture and the arts, bamboo is a mystical plant: a symbol of strength, flexibility, tenacity, and endurance.