In a world where the environment is always put at risk, it is becoming increasingly critical to many to be as eco-friendly as possible. This strategy means investing in sustainable furniture items. Bamboo furniture has emerged as one of the top choices in a world bent on saving the planet. Is it a sustainable option that is better for the world?
For the most part, bamboo is a sustainable option. However, like everything on this planet, some things make this material less sustainable. But when compared to other items, furniture made of this product is more sustainable than most of its competitors.
Read on to learn about what makes bamboo furniture so sustainable. This article will also discuss what takes away from its sustainability. It is crucial to have a complete understanding of a product before making a conclusion solely based on its rising popularity.
Is Bamboo Furniture Sustainable?
Right away, it is worth defining what makes bamboo, and by extension, bamboo furniture sustainable. It may be hard to understand why this unique plant serves as a furniture material that benefits the environment. However, if you examine it a little closer, there are many reasons that it is one of the most sustainable materials for furniture out there.
Keep on reading to learn about what, exactly, makes the material sustainable. There are a lot of great reasons to invest in this plant base for your furniture. It is one of the best out there if you are on the hunt for something more eco-friendly than the traditional wooden pieces.
Bamboo Grows Incredibly Fast
Bamboo is a plant that can grow incredibly fast. Rather than laying in wait for years at a time, this plant pushes itself throughout the solid ground and thrives. This speed means that it can be replaced and regrown almost as fast as it goes away. Trees cannot come back this fast or be harvested at this speed. It takes them much, much longer to grow.
This short growth time means:
- More furniture is produced without destroying the plant life before it can grow back
- The planting and gathering of resources process can happen much faster than with other natural materials
- Bamboo can be plentiful while still being used at a frequent rate
The planet needs trees for resources, but they do not grow very fast. This dilemma means that production slows down, or other trees are chopped down faster than they are regrown. This give and take is not the case with bamboo, making the plant better for sustainable furniture than its traditional wooden counterpart.
The fast growth time may also prevent trees from being cut down. If more people switch to bamboo, trees may have a shot at growing back and recovering. This regrowth would mean a new world for the people that will inhabit the land after us. Diverse plant life will one day have the opportunity to make a reappearance.
Bamboo is Water Efficient
Bamboo is a highly water efficient plant. When it absorbs water, it takes it in as far as possible within its core. Not a single drop goes to waste. It also has a hard outer shell, making it durable and strong no matter what comes its way. For farmers, this means:
- Less irrigation is needed for the crops, so less land falls apart thanks to the roots
- Fewer pesticides are required since the bamboo is strong
- Moderate soil monitoring must happen since bamboo has intricate roots
Less care for the bamboo means less use of natural resources, and less destruction in the process of growing. Bamboo furniture, after all is said and done, uses a lot less energy and materials in its creation than a standard wooden piece does. It produces less waste in both growing and processing.
Having a plant that takes care of itself is better on the land and better on the people. Bamboo is a material that is like no other used to make furniture and other home decor pieces. It will help the planet and the people inhabiting it to support itself for a long time coming.
Bamboo Makes More Durable Furniture
Bamboo is one of the toughest materials that is used in construction. In some cases, it can even be stronger than steel. For those investing in furniture, this is great. The fact that bamboo is powerful means that:
- The furniture created will last much longer due to its hard outer shell and intricate insides
- It can handle a heavy load, so it is more versatile than other materials
- It can sustain more damage in harsher conditions
This strength also makes bamboo furniture sustainable. It is not thrown away or tossed to the side as fast, so it stays out of landfills. Less of it is needed to be purchased, so less energy goes into its production. Bamboo furniture is truly a win for the environment and sustainability.
Durability also ensures that a piece can stay in a family for a long time. You might even be able to pass down bamboo furniture to future generations, which makes it even more sustainable. If it has not been tampered with too much, it can eventually return to the ground that it came from.
Harvesting and Processing Bamboo Uses Less Energy
With bamboo furniture, the bamboo is often minimally processed. That means that it just needs to be cut down, cleaned, and shaved into proper shapes and sizes for the furniture pieces. On the other hand, wood often needs to be cut, smoothed, polished and pressed before being sold and turned into furniture.
The less processing a material requires, the less natural resources and toxic gases materialize. Our world can hang on to extra water and fossil fuels while the air avoids unnecessary pollutants that it does not need to add to the toxins already filling the skies.
Bamboo Efficiently Uses Space
When bamboo is grown, it makes efficient use of the space that it is planted in. This spacing is a big difference compared to trees, which need a wide area of emptiness around them to grow effectively.
Bamboo makes efficient use of the space it is planted in because:
- It can regrow another shoot from the stalk that gets cut down
- Each plant can be positioned close to another
- Many more plants can be grown in a small area and regrown just as fast
Trees take up more space, and when they go away, they cannot regrow from the same stump. Bamboo can and can also compress to fit inside a small area. This spacing means less energy is required for bamboo furniture to come into existence, making it sustainable compared to other materials used for furniture.
By efficiently using the space, other crops can also be grown near bamboo. A farmer can maximize the space and grow many abundant plants that will sustain the future.
