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It’s no wonder that the Chinese proverb would claim that it’s better to have a meal without meat than a house without bamboo. Its history is long and rich, extending across kingdoms and centuries, from the stone age to the Internet age.
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The properties of bamboo are so varied and impressive, it’s hard to know where to begin. More importantly, we will explore the ways in which bamboo is helping helping to relieve those problems, contributing to more sustainable means of production and consumption. In this article we will address a host environmental problems facing the world today, many of them having to do with industrial scale farming and modern day consumerism. In a world saturated with disposable plastics and toxic petroleum products, bamboo is a sustainable resource that promises to clean carbon from the atmosphere and reduce our dependency on petrochemicals. In fact, the benefits of bamboo in the post-industrial, information age are more profound than ever. And how can forget about the bamboo underwear?Īs new technologies replace old technologies, and old ways and materials fall out of favor, bamboo just never goes out of style.
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But today bamboo also appears after the meal in reusable, biodegradable toothbrushes, even in bamboo charcoal infused toothpaste. But far more impressive are the modern bamboo homes that have been gaining popularity in America and the West with their lighter carbon footprints.īamboo is still a common ingredient in chop suey and Asian stir fries, as it has been for many centuries. To this day, bamboo houses are a common site across the rural parts of China and South East Asia. For thousands of years people have been using bamboo as a building material and a source of sustenance. Sustainable, versatile, sturdy and flexible, the benefits of bamboo just go on and on.
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