Why Bamboo Flooring Is So Ecologically Friendly

Today, almost 1 million acres of forest disappear each week. This alarming rate of deforestation is forcing many world economies to rethink their business and manufacturing practices. A seventy-foot tree cut for its lumber takes 65 years to replace. A seventy-foot bamboo cut for market can be replaced in less than 3 months, as bamboo is officially recognized as the world's fastest growing plant. Some species can grow 3 feet per day!

Driven by the constantly-growing consumer demand for environmentally friendly products, many bamboo-related companies are gaining momentum as a reliable source for high quality and durable green building materials. Consumers are choosing high quality alternative building materials over traditional non-sustainable products. Hybrid cars, recycled materials, reusable energy sources, bamboo flooring; use of these products is exploding as consumers are recognizing the need to choose products of a sustainable and regenerative nature.

The general population is becoming weary of ever-decreasing hardwood forests and the threat that this deforestation poses to an already fragile global environment. Bamboo flooring is the logical and ethical choice. Since bamboo is termite, moisture and rot resistant, it functions extremely well as a prime flooring material.

There are multiple types of bamboo floors sold that cater to unique tastes. Strand woven bamboo flooring is twice as resilient as regular wood flooring and has a hybrid grain that is between wood and bamboo. Distressed bamboo floors look antique as if they were pulled out of an old barn. Engineered/laminate bamboo floors are highly stable and great for basements and in areas of varying humidity.

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on earth. It is known to produce 30% more oxygen than a hardwood forest of comparable size, while preventing erosion, restoring soil, providing sweet edible shoots and removing toxins from contaminated soil. Ecologists tout bamboo as a logical, renewable source of building materials. Many promote bamboo planting for erosion prevention, and even to reverse the effects of global warming.

Bamboo helps reduce carbon dioxide gases blamed for global warming. Bamboo removes significant quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which makes it a highly efficient plant, and conducive to fresh air. Being a grass, bamboo regenerates without replanting after harvesting.

Bamboo is a natural water control barrier. Because of its widespread root system and large canopy, bamboo greatly reduces rain run off, preventing soil erosion. Bamboo can keep up to twice as much water in a watershed. Due to its high nitrogen consumption, bamboo helps mitigate water pollution, making it a solution for excess nutrient uptake of wastewater from manufacturing, livestock farming and sewage treatment.

Bamboo can restore degraded lands. It is a remarkable plant and can be grown in soil damaged by overgrazing and poor agriculture practices. Proper harvesting does not kill the bamboo plant, therefore topsoil is held in place. Because of its dense litter on the forest floor, it feeds topsoil creation, restoring healthy agricultural lands for generations to come.

Traditional hardwood lumber trees, such as oak, maple, and birch, take 40-50 years to regenerate. In the meantime, there is less oxygen produced, less carbon dioxide consumed, and more soil runoff in the spot where those trees were harvested – all producing negative environmental effects. Our planet is suffering from resource depletion, habitat loss, species extinction, and ecosystem pollution. The choice of bamboo flooring will greatly help reverse those negative trends.