Bamboo-zled
It seems that consumers are still confused about the pros and cons of bamboo — that environmental wunderkind lining the floor in every “green-built” house and condo building from here to China. Is bamboo truly all it’s cracked up to be? We tackled the buzz on bamboo last year, and today Treehugger and Core77 go deep on this fast-growing grass’s potential and detriment.
Related Topics: Green Living, From the Editors
February 21st, 2008 at 2:10 am
Great reminder post. I think the 2 biggest problems are how sustainable the bamboo is, from the source (main grower is China) and if the seals and stains are using toxic materials.
Both of these are huge. So when will we be able to find alternatives to both?
February 21st, 2008 at 3:38 pm
Great points. At this time, all we can really ask is “what’s the best we can do with what we have?” The answer: If you’re building a home or redoing floors, etc., you need to ask questions and look discriminatingly at companies. One helpful resource is the GreenSpec Product Directory, which rates how green companies are, whether the product is low VOC, whether it has urea formaldehyde, and whether it off gases.
I think you have to pay for the resource, but this link is worth checking out…
http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/productsByCsiSection.cfm?SubBuilderCategoryID=1992
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:38 am
When it comes to clothing, bamboo is “less bad” but a lot of the hype around it is just that. Check out http://wearingthefuture.com/content/view/27/1/ for a discussion of its merits and drawbacks.