Why We’re Obsessed with Bamboo

Forest fires. Melting glaciers. Rising sea levels. Intense droughts. These are just a few of the effects of climate change, and construction businesses are one of the industries looking for sustainable alternatives to combat global warming.

Bamboo had a bad rep for being “the poor man’s timber” because of its accessibility and how easy it was to grow, but recently, many cultures have learned to value this property along with how strong and durable it is. Curious what the new nicknames are? “Plant of immortality” or “green gold of the future”. They might be a little cheesy, but this change in society’s perception has been beneficial for the economic growth in many developing countries with bamboo as a natural resource.

Sharma Springs, Photo Credit: Ibuku

With more than 1,500 bamboo species found around the world, countries in Asia, South America and East Africa promote the potential for sustainable business models to use bamboo as a raw material. It’s one of the most ideal sources for local, sustainable purpose-engineered building materials in tropical and subtropical zones — so how do we benefit from this natural and renewable resource in the western hemispheres with a more urban context?

It has so much potential to be one of the materials of the future, and not only limited to being just affiliated as another trend. There are many advantages in using bamboo in its natural appearance for construction or as a highly innovative processing furnish.

ChopValue Wall Feature and Staircase

What stands out most working with an engineered bamboo product is its durability, high performance, surface characteristics, hardness, and positive environmental footprint compared to similar species from tropical forests. Of course, all that considering that resource efficiency throughout the manufacturing process as well as logistics are optimized. We believe we’ve found a way to bring us all one step closer to the appreciation of this fastest growing wooden grass on earth by looking at our urban waste streams.

Each humble chopstick travels from the green, rich, and beautiful tropical bamboo forests in Asia all the way to our tables 9,000 km away to be used as a disposable utensil. We want to challenge and rethink the possibilities for what was once defined as a throw-away 20 minute lifespan item because it doesn’t take rocket science or a formal life cycle assessment to understand that these humble chopsticks add up in volume and don’t deserve to end up in the landfill. Reclaiming it as a resource also means we’re able to create beautiful high performance wooden homeware and furniture instead of cutting down virgin trees to preserve forests.

So for World Bamboo Day, we remind ourselves about the tremendous value of all our renewable natural resources, but most importantly, what a precious resource bamboo is.

Being so passionate about the true potential of bamboo as a performance material is the main reason we’re inspired to start this ambitious multi-stakeholder project to foster and promote the use of bamboo as a standard material by creating a viable example for a circular economy.

ChopValue Homeware, Decor, and Office collections

Want to be a part of closing the loop? We’d love for you to join our mission to make a difference, one chopstick at a time. In celebration of World Bamboo Day, we’re offering 20% off all products just for this weekend so you can see for yourself why we’re obsessed with bamboo (and chopsticks).

Promo code:
WorldBambooDay
for 20% off
Ends 9/19/21 11:59PM PST
SHOP NOW