ecobites.com

Making your life greener - one bite at a time.

There are over a thousand kinds of bamboo in the world. Some grow to a height of over 20 m (66 ft), with a diameter of up to 180 mm (7 in).

A 17th century Japanese priest once wrote -

Bamboo leaves hang in front of my house;
At the back they divide it from the world;
They cover it above and give shelter.
I, the bamboo lover, find home within their shade.

In the Garden

Bamboo is not a plant for a small garden. Even in a large area it must be kept under control. The rhizones or rootstock must not be allowed to go unchecked. It spreads by menas of long fast-growing underground shoots from which germinate new sprouts. If you do have the space to accomodate bamboo in your garden, the thousands of uses it can be put to will more than compensate for the extra room required.

The rustle of bamboo foliage in even the slightest breath of breeze is indeed a pleasant sight and sound.
After rain the leaves create an illusion of endless flashing mirrors,as they seem to be forever moving and whispering.

Bamboo grows extremely fast under suitable conditions. People have laid claim to have actually watched it grow!

Uses Of Bamboo

Many hundreds of different articles can be made from this unique plant. It can be used as a building material. Domes, tea houses, roof tiles, gutters,concrete reinforcement, scaffolding, pergolas, temples, gazebos, shade pavilions, garden trellises, bridges, towers, churches, barns, pig pens, fish traps, piers, retaining walls, chicken pens, play structures,shelves,fencing, most anything you can think of. Bamboo flooring has become one of the most popular "hardwood" flooring products on the market today. "Plyboo" takes the place of plywood.

Bamboo makes great furniture. Beds, chairs, tables, stools, book shelves, desk, bread racks, folding chairs, chest of drawers, wine racks, clothes racks, cabinets, lamps, chests, coffee tables, benches, work benches, any piece of furniture you can think of has been made of bamboo.

Floor mats and baskets can be woven from split bamboo. Lawn rakes and handles for other garden tools are a common use. Everyday objects such as cups, ladles, photo frames, buckets, vases, paint brushes and planters can all be fashioned from the ubiquitous bamboo. Blinds, bows and arrows, fans, musical instruments -
flutes, panpipes, saxophones, didgeridoos, xylophones, marimbas, whistles, wind chimes, pipe organs, gongs, rainsticks, curtain rods, fishing rods, pipes for irrigation, brooms, paper, fish traps, umbrellas, combs and even manchester and clothing - the list is endless. It is said wine kept in green bamboo for a few days improves greatly in flavour.

Bamboo rafts are probably some of the earliest boats ever. With hollow, watertight compartments bamboo is a natural choice. But over time the ways bamboo has been used for boats has expanded. Chinese junks used bamboo for mast, booms, oars, rails, woven into sails, push poles, ropes, outriggers, etc.
Over a hundred years ago Fridtjof Nansen was marooned in the artic and used bamboo poles and sail cloth to build a kayak to save himself. The Japanese used split bamboo to make a basket like boat for fishing. The Vietnamese make a type of boat from plaited bamboo. In ancient Polynesia the people built big catamarans using bamboo for mast, shelter, rails, floors, and as containers for fresh water. In modern times bamboo has been laminated and used for surfboards and modern boat construction.

Edison used bamboo as the filament for his first electric lamps.

Food

Only the young tender shoots of bamboo are suitable for food, though if too young they tend to be very soft. If left too long they become coarse and tough. So somewhere in between there is a perfect time to harvest the shoots for food. When the shoot appears through the soil it should be gathered and stripped of its outer covering. The shoots are then boiled in salted water to remove the natural bitterness. In the East, bamboo shoots are canned for export all over the world. They are processed by boiling first, then dried and pounded flat or sliced. The texture of bamboo shoots is rather like apple in appearance, but more like an artichoke heart in flavour. The food value is akin to that of the onion.

But besides being a food item, bamboo has been used (and continues to be used) in the kitchen. Just a few uses include, cups, bowls, place mats, chop sticks, egg beaters, tea whisks, forks, knives, spoons, canisters, rice cookers, salad bowls, napkin rings, and just about any other kitchen utensil you can think of! Rice is steamed in the sections of cane. Salad bowls are made from thin, woven strips of bamboo. Woven screens of split bamboo are used in rice steamers.

Bamboo Eating Utensils

What's an eco-friendly picnicker to do? Conventional disposable plates and plastic cutlery couldn't be less environmentally friendly. A hefty slug of glue is mixed with the wood pulp that is used to make paper plates, and throwaway cutlery sets are invariably made from petroleum-based plastics that cannot be recycled or composted.

Picnic Ware - plates, dishes and cutlery, made from reconstituted bamboo that is entirely biodegradable. Bamboo ware combines strength and style to provide a sustainable alternative to conventional plastic disposable picnic ware.

Microwave and dishwasher friendly. Use it just once, or many times before returning it to the earth.

Medicine

In oriental medicine there are many remedies based on bamboo. In some species, natural silica exists in a micro scopically fine powder - very important for treating problems of the connective tissue, skin, hair and teeth.

In the East

One naturally thinks of the orient when relating to bamboo. It is considered there to be a noble plant and much ceremony and custom pertains to the bamboo. In early China, books were hand scribed on strips of bamboo lined with silk and there is a long tradition of bamboo craft. It is said the interlocked roots of a bamboo grove support the frail dwellings of country villages during earthquakes. Bamboo is cultivated in the East for commercial forests and bamboo scaffolding is commonly used on building projects. It is lashed at the intersections and joints with rattan, which is tied on wet and shrinks to a very tight grip. In Singapore, many years ago, we first sighted bamboo scaffolding used at building sites of multi-storey city constructions.

Even in today's plastic world, bamboo still shines through for its lasting strength. Many junks have masts made from durable bamboo. Bamboo chopsticks take precedence over modern-day plastic ones. In fact bamboo is inextricably woven into a fabric. Even the ritual tea ceremony would hardly be possible without bamboo.

Garden Stakes

A handy supply of strong durable garden stakes for tomatoes or climbers is always at the ready from the bamboo stands. The young skinny off-shoot canes of about 5 mm (3/16 in) diameter make excellent name-tag pegs for seedling pots in the greenhouse. For the name tag, cut up squares of milk cartons and use marking pens to print names on the plain side. Two holes are punched in each tag then the bamboo is pushed up through these.

Crafting With Bamboo

A knife and a saw, simple basic tools, are usually all that are required to fashion bamboo into useful objects. As a material, its lightness, rigidity or sometimes flexibility are unsurpassed. It is cheap and abundant. It splits lengthwise. Heated it can be bent to retain a shape. This fantastically natural medium will stand years of punishment. A New Guinea made bamboo long-tooth hair comb, which is over 100 years young. Still in use and hasn't lost a single tooth. It is marvellously gently on knotted curly hair. (Refer photo above).

Many objects made from bamboo need hardly any refinement, giving the impression that they have almost evolved from nature rather than being formed by human hands.

Lashing

The oriental idea is to lash bamboo together when crafting, rather than using nails or other metal fastenings. This can be very effective, as the lashing itself then forms part of the pattern. A pretty plant holder can be made by lashing together with twine a flat row of narrow bamboo of about 300 mm (1 ft) length. Then join in the round to the required size. One row of lashing needs to be about 5 cm (2 in) from the top and a second row of lashing about the same distance from the bottom. Cut a plywood base to size with a few holes drilled around the perimeter. This can then be laced with twine to the bamboo. Farria, twine, string or anything similar is suitable for the lashing.

Toggles

A further use for small bamboo pieces is toggle buttons. These require cutting to size with a hacksaw, and sanding rough edges. Next drill two small holes right through rounds, to enable them to be sewn to a garment or bag. Great fasteners for woven grass baskets.

Mounting Rods

Used for the top and bottom mounting rods of large wall hangings.

With patience and care, bamboo may be carved if desired.

Going Green with Bamboo

Bamboo has been a vital part of many cultures for thousands of years and yet it's uses continue to grow. You can find bamboo towels, bamboo socks, bamboo shirts, bamboo sheets, and more. Bamboo flooring is everywhere now, saving thousands of trees every year. Bamboo is a perfect symbol of our new awareness of our environment.

There are endless more ideas of uses for this fantastic plant. Here we have only scratched the surface. The uses are limited only by the imagination - and motivation.

airplanes, arrows, fishing poles, fly rods, bee hives, books, buckets, bean poles, blow guns, charcoal, paper, books(some of the earliest known books were written on strips of split bamboo), pens, baskets (every kind imaginable), beer, walking sticks, birdhouses, bird feeders, bows, fountains, bicycles, swings, carts, kites, windmills, jewelry, toys, hammocks, all kinds of containers, back and ear scratchers,cannons, carrying poles, crutches, curtains, cribs, cables, charcoal, candle holders, water pipes, oil pipes, tobacco pipes, dirigible, fans, firewood, flag pole, fishing floats,kiosk, lanterns, light bulb filiment, bats, writing brushes, wheelbarrows, windmills, scoops, netsuke, polo balls, pole vaulting, paint brushes, umbrellas, rakes, rattles, record needles, concrete reinforcement, rulers, sandals, scoops, shoehorn, sieves, skewers, snow fence, stilts, tipi poles, toothpicks, torches, walking sticks, waterwheels, torches, towel racks, bird cages, curtains, rakes, mats, vases, flooring, hats,plywood, and more.

Organic Bamboo Nursery
http://www.jmbamboo.com/index.htm

Make a bamboo didgeridoo http://www.jmbamboo.com/didgeridoo.htm

Make a bamboo flute http://www.jmbamboo.com/flute.htm

Bamboo paper http://www.jmbamboo.com/paper.htm

Rocamojo has a biodegradable range of picnic crockery that is produced with minimal effect on the environment. The plates, bowls and cutlery are made from bamboo and water, meaning there are no glues or plastics involved in their construction and that the lightweight set can be re-used and eventually composted. According to the manufacturer, the dinner set is durable and light, able to cope with hot and cold liquids, and lasts for "a summer's worth of picnics".

www.rocamojoasia.com/prod_bella.html.