Are Bamboo Products Actually Sustainable? The Pros and Cons

There are many different materials that can be used as sustainable or green alternatives to conventional materials. You're likely familiar with many of them - like using bamboo, cotton, or glass instead of plastics and wood - while others fly under the radar.

Bamboo in particular has gotten a lot of attention over the last handful of years. Whenever a material gets a lot of hype, and particularly when it starts to proliferate through the green and eco-friendly markets, it's worth being skeptical about it.

Is bamboo actually a sustainable material, or is it just slightly better than the alternative and used as greenwashing because it's more profitable than truly green alternatives? We decided to dig into it. Here are our findings.

What is Bamboo, Anyway?

Depending on what you know about the world and the plants that live on it, you may or may not know what bamboo actually is. Your knowledge might be limited to the "lucky bamboo" plants you see sold around Chinese New Year or pictures of bamboo forests in Japan. That's fine; everyone has to learn somewhere.

Bamboo is actually a group of different plants that, scientifically speaking, are evergreen perennials. The smallest bamboos are like those lucky bamboos; small reed-like plants that can grow in pots indoors. The largest, like giant bamboo, are tree-sized columns.

What astonishes many people when they learn about it is that bamboo is actually a type of grass. They are among the fastest-growing plants in the world, with some species able to grow nearly three feet in a day - fast enough that you can practically watch them grow before your eyes.

Bamboo is also present in many places around the world, not just in China and Japan, as you might expect. Much of central and southern Africa, India, Southeast Asia, almost all of South America, Latin America, and even parts of the American Southeast have native species of bamboo. A species known as "river cane" or "giant river cane" is actually a native species of bamboo in Kentucky, for example.

The Benefits of Bamboo for Sustainability

Why is bamboo heralded as a sustainable alternative in the modern ecosystem? It actually has quite a few benefits.

The first and one of the most important is something we already mentioned: bamboo grows very quickly. While the three-foot-an-hour rate is the top-end for ideal conditions, even bamboo in worse conditions can grow several inches per day. Moreover, it doesn't take years to mature; bamboo grows to its full height in one growing season.

Another important benefit is that bamboo lives underground. This is an extreme oversimplification, but you can think of bamboo as a shoot rising from roots; when you cut down bamboo and harvest the stalks, the root is left untouched.

And, since bamboo grows to its full height in one season, it already doesn't expect that shoot to remain and grows new shoots the next year by default.

What this means is that, essentially, bamboo doesn't need to be re-planted. You don't need to go through and reforest areas after you harvest them. The bamboo living underground is already there, waiting to send up new shoots.

This is also great because it helps prevent erosion. Since the living organism is still there, holding the soil together and alive, your erosion concerns are much lower.

Another significant benefit of bamboo is that it's relatively water-light. Bamboo doesn't require as much water as a lot of other plants, such as cotton, hardwood trees, and various wetland species.

Bamboo is also very good at absorbing atmospheric CO2. One of the most pressing concerns we have as a species on this planet today is greenhouse gasses, of which CO2 is a primary contributor. Cutting back on CO2 emissions is great, but we also need to invest in ways to pull more CO2 from the atmosphere in a process known as carbon sequestration.

Bamboo is actually exceptional at sucking CO2 from the atmosphere. A single, newly planted bamboo clump can sequester as much as two tons of CO2 in about 7 years. Compare that to hardwood trees, which take nearly 40 years to sequester just one ton of CO2. Even high-absorption trees like pines are 5x less effective than bamboo.

Bamboo products, being made from natural plants, are also biodegradable. What's more, bamboo is degradable very quickly, unlike wood, especially treated wood. Depending on the product, it can even be compostable for a very rapid return to the life cycle.

Bamboo is also fairly resilient against pests and diseases. Leaf rot, mites, aphids, mealybugs, fungi, and viruses can all impact bamboo, but the plant is generally quite resistant. Most of the time, bamboo farms don't need to rely on pesticides or other toxins despite being essentially giant monocultures. It's telling that infestations are more described as a nuisance than a threat.

Finally, bamboo is very flexible in its uses. Shredded bamboo pulp can be woven into fibers that are soft, hypoallergenic, cool, and quite durable; bamboo linens are often renowned for their softness and durability. Meanwhile, larger and stronger chunks of bamboo can replace wood in everything from cutting boards to flooring. You aren't likely to find modern houses built out of bamboo, but many of the furnishings and finishings can be. It can be stronger than concrete against compression and as strong as steel under tension.

Another potential benefit, though one that may be exclusive to its use as a material, is that bamboo shoots - harvested when they're young and tender - are delicious and a great source of vitamins and dietary fiber. The trade-off is that if you harvest a shoot, it isn't growing into a full stalk for later harvesting.

To sum it all up:

• Bamboo is exceptionally fast-growing.
• Bamboo doesn't need to be re-planted, for a much faster farming cycle.
• Bamboo consumes very little water for what it produces.
• Bamboo consumes a lot of CO2 for the space it takes up.
• Bamboo is easily biodegradable and compostable.
• Bamboo doesn't require pesticides or toxins to farm.
• Bamboo is flexible in what it can produce.

It certainly sounds like a near-miracle material, doesn't it? So, what's the drawback?

The Downsides to Bamboo Production

While bamboo has a lot of potential upsides, there are a few downsides that are equally important to know.

One significant concern is that simply growing bamboo isn't the only part of the process. Harvesting and processing bamboo needs to be done properly. If the forests being used aren't sustainable themselves, the bamboo loses some of its value as a sustainable material. Processing can use water and energy, and sometimes toxic chemicals, all of which pose a threat to the environment.

Similarly, while bamboo can grow in many places around the world, there are also a lot of places it can't grow, and those areas need bamboo to be shipped in. As you know, long-distance shipping is awful and should be avoided in just about every instance it can be. Sorry, Canada; your lack of native bamboo or bamboo-growing conditions means it's going to be worse for you than for regions where it's natively grown.

Why not just establish bamboo farms more locally? Because of its nature, bamboo can become an invasive species. Not all species of bamboo are suitable for production, but places where bamboo can grow often have their own species of bamboo. Importing non-native bamboo can lead to those foreign plants out-competing native plants and causing more ecological damage.

The hardest part is that bamboo propagates underground, so controlling its spread means installing barriers underground, which can be a significant project. But it's still better than more traditional forestry in terms of effort and expense, so it's no surprise it's being looked at much more closely with every passing year.

There's always the trade-off of non-bamboo ecosystems being overridden with bamboo, as well. If you clear-cut a native forest to plant bamboo, maybe it will be better for CO2 sequestration and lower water use in the long run, but it's still deforestation that can be devastating to local ecosystems. It becomes a biodiversity problem rather than a sustainability problem.

Finally, for the time being, bamboo products are often fairly expensive. This is a combination of the "green tax" on eco-friendly products, and the relatively limited amount of bamboo production available in the west. The more bamboo is adopted, the better it will be.

To sum it all up:

• Bamboo requires processing that can be bad for the environment if done poorly.
• Bamboo doesn't grow everywhere and may need to be imported to some regions, with the usual logistics costs.
• Bamboo can become an invasive species if it's not well-controlled where it's brought.
• Bamboo monoculture forests hurt biodiversity in places where they're planted.
• For now, bamboo can be expensive.

Nearly all of the potential problems with bamboo can be mediated, reduced, or solved, but they do need that attention. You can't just trust that all bamboo is good; it needs a positive backing behind it.

Sustainable Uses for Bamboo

What can bamboo be used for? We've already touched on a few options, but let's go into them more deeply.

Bamboo can be used as a construction material. It requires different building codes, different techniques, and different kinds of structures, but the resulting buildings can be very strong and very resilient. China uses bamboo a lot, and it's growing in popularity in the west.

Biodegradable bamboo products make for good bathroom products. From toothbrushes to razor handles, bamboo can take the place of plastic for a lot of bathroom items. It can also be made into toilet paper.

Bamboo flooring is highly durable and resilient. It takes the place of more traditional hardwood floors and replaces vinyl and other plastic flooring options. Moreover, it can be dyed or stained many different colors so it can suit any décor.

Bamboo can be made into kitchenware. Utensils, in their entirety or utensil handles for things like knives, are increasingly popular. Bamboo can also be used for cutting boards and even for things like plates. Just make sure it's made properly and uses natural adhesives and not potentially toxic chemicals.

Bamboo linens and fabrics are excellent. They stay cool, they're hypoallergenic, and they're both soft and durable. They're also resistant to molds, mildew, bacteria, and other grossness that can build up with use. They make good cushions and mattresses as well.

Note that bamboo fabrics have to be created in specific ways to avoid excessive water and chemical use that essentially eliminates all of the benefits of using bamboo in the first place. That's why, if you're shopping for bamboo fabrics, looking for fabrics that are certified by an organization like GOTS is essential.

For example, you can check out our cotton-bamboo hybrid fabric shirts here. They're USA-made and eco-friendly, so they eliminate most of the negatives of bamboo as a product. We're also more than happy to go into details if you drop us a line.

The Bottom Line

Bamboo has a ton of benefits for the environment, especially in terms of reducing water consumption and increasing carbon sequestration. It's fast to produce and effective for a wide range of different uses. Sure, it has some drawbacks, but even poorly handled bamboo is often much better than an equivalent product made of plastic or synthetic fibers. That's just how devastating plastic is.

With time and investment, bamboo is poised to become a very impactful material, especially when it's used for carbon sequestration as well as manufacturing. There is always going to be exploitation and abuse of materials, and unscrupulous businesses claiming their products are better than they are, but most bamboo uses are better than their equivalents in just about any other material.

So, no, bamboo isn't just greenwashing, at least not in most cases. As long as you pay attention to certifications and buy from ethical stores like Ethix, you know you're doing good, or at least better than you could be. If you have any questions about our certifications, be sure to let us know!