The Environmental Benefits of Bamboo

The bamboo plant has so many uses including clothing, building, food and Ayurvedic and Chinese herbal medicine. Its growth has huge environmental benefits making it a great alternative to other materials where the growth or harvesting can be detrimental to the environment for example deforestation for wood and pesticide pollution caused by the growth of conventional cotton.

Here are just some of the environmental benefits of growing Bamboo:

• Fast growing - some bamboo species grow at one and a half metres per day, making it sustainable and renewable as a crop and quick for regreening degraded lands.
• Reduction of Carbon Dioxide (a greenhouse gas) - not only can bamboo produce 35% more oxygen than equivalent stands of trees but some bamboo can sequester 12 tons of Carbon Dioxide from the air per hectare.
• Prevention of soil erosion - bamboo has a net like root system which holds the soil together. It is particularly effective at preventing erosion along fragile river banks, areas of deforestation and in areas prone to earth quakes and mudslides. Its stem flow rate and high canopy intercept also reduces run off and erosion. Unlike most trees harvesting does not kill the plant so top soil is held in place.
• Eco friendly to grow - bamboo is easily grown without the need of pesticides, fertilisers or irrigation. All of which are environmentally damaging.
• Waste water - a bamboo forest can be used as an ecological waste water system. The system is engineered to provide an aerobic rhizosphere (the home of living organisms in the root system), in which damaging polluting components are transformed into plant nutrients.
• Adaptable - bamboo can grow in so many diverse environments. It can also tolerate extreme precipitation and other extreme conditions. This adaptability makes its possible to extend its environmental benefits to so many areas.
• Prevents deforestation - the strength of bamboo makes it a great alternative to wood. The growth of bamboo provides materials for building houses helping to reduce deforestation. Bamboo produces much greater yields per hectare than timber.