Ok, so the Bamboo PC was just an eco promotion. The laptop launched at the Hanover computer fair last March, with a laminated bamboo casing around a pretty conventional computer won’t make a dent in the rising tide of plastics sold around the world.
Despite not having any major eco benefits to the bamboo computers, they did give a good demonstration of what can be done with a material that versatile.
Bamboo must be the only raw material that can be used as food, clothing and building materials. One of Edison’s early light bulbs had a carbonised bamboo filament. Its strength and low price tag makes it a great material for building, particularly in parts of Asia where it’s used as scaffolding. The fibres within bamboo poles have both high tension strength, as well as high compression strength. It’s compressive strength works out around twice that of concrete, bamboo also has the same tensile strength to weight ratio as steel. Now there’s even a bamboo laptop!
Bamboo products ticks almost all boxes for anyone looking to purchase eco-friendly home furnishings. To begin with, it’s an extremely sustatinable material. Some species of bamboo grow at more than a metre every day. Local people can cut down as much as they need for carving, weaving, sawing or splitting and still have as big a forest at the end of the year as they had at the start. As for the global warming question, because the bamboo is a plant, anything that’s been made from it contains a large proportion of atmospheric carbon. However, the plastic equivalent to a bamboo products actually adds to the atmospheric carbon levels, rather than taking away!
Another point; due to bamboo being a natural material, it has a number of variations in quality, size and appearance, all of these differences make it difficult to work with as part of a mass production line. As a result, this means that the bamboo products you buy are most likely hand crafted by skilled craftsman. If you choose to buy from a reputable source, you’ll also have the peace of mind that the craftsman has earned a fair wage from their work and not been exploited. The last thing is that you can be sure that your purchased product won’t have accumulated any air miles since it’s creation.
With eco credentials this strong, it’s a surprise bamboo built products are so beautiful. Just picture a hand crafted bamboo box, layered 15 times with natural shellac. All natural and really stylish. I recently picked up a beautifully crafted bamboo knife block and am seriously considering following suit with other bamboo kitchen accessories like salad bowls. Stylish and ethical. Win. 
Tags: eco, eco-friendly, green, home furnishings, kitchen accessories