Bamboo: The thousand uses of a sustainable resource

With bamboo we can build houses , sheds, fences, walls, scaffolding, pipes, pillars, beams, aqueducts, furniture and many other objects and utensils. It is a renewable material, which grows much faster than conventional wood and offers technical advantages such as its resistance to mechanical forces, as it provides more security than steel or iron, insulates, is not sensitive to humidity and does not rust. .

Among other uses, taking advantage of the fact that the main stem of bamboo is a very hard and strong wood as well as flexible, it offers a good construction material to build houses. Its use to fortify reinforced concrete is an example of its enormous potential in this sector, especially considering that it requires fewer energy resources, and produces a lower environmental impact, than conventional materials, such as brick or cement, let’s say case.

Bamboo can be worked like wood and is a key raw material in many designer product manufacturing initiatives and also in craft traditions . Gadgets, mobile device covers, bicycles, furniture, toys, floors, curtains, household utensils, decorative figures or, for example, flower pots and baskets can be made.

If the central parts are used in the construction, for the manufacture of different biodegradable utensils (tablecloths, disposable tableware, etc.) those stems and finer fibers are ideal.

Dried, canned or in the form of fresh sprouts, they are consumed as a condiment or garnish, without forgetting their use to make fermented beverages . Therapeutic properties are also attributed to it. Bamboo shoots are generally edible , but Phyllostachys pubescens are especially prized. Tradition says that it tastes like a mixture of apple and artichoke and has the nutritional properties of onion.

Translated into nutritional elements, they are rich in potassium and vitamin A, as well as containing up to 17 amino acids. With regard to medicinal uses, ancient customs say that two slowly cooked egg yolks in fresh bamboo straw create a liquid that would help asthma, hemoptysis due to respiratory tract injury and hemorrhoids, while the high silica content has properties poison control.

In addition to purifying the atmosphere , as any other plant does, bamboo gives a lot of play for decoration according to the principles of Feng Shui , whose principles are based on ancient Chinese culture to improve the feeling of well-being through good energies.

Bamboo is one of the plants that can improve the Feng Shui of your home the most , as well as an art and a science. Specifically, positive energy will flow and we will lengthen our life if we choose plants such as the lotus flower, which represents truth and purity, or Chinese bamboo, longevity.

And, be that as it may, there is no doubt that it gives a zen touch to our home, whether indoors or in the garden, with the advantage of being easy to maintain. On the other hand, it helps to avoid desertification since its roots prevent the rains from washing away the earth, and therefore it can serve to protect edible or ornamental plants from the wind. Therefore, it constitutes an interesting element for the design of bioclimatic houses.

The versatility of bamboo doesn’t stop there. It is also used to develop textiles with ecological fibers , which are used for bedding, underwear and all kinds of clothing and fashion accessories. Among its properties, textiles are very soft, absorbent and antibacterial.

Generating energy with bamboo beyond its use as biomass, both thermal and electrical energy , has an important use in areas where energy is a resource with prohibitive costs for the industry. In addition, at an environmental level it is positive because this also fights against deforestation.

Taking advantage of the photosynthesis process, science does not stop carrying out projects to seek efficiency with the aim of producing green energies from it. Within these initiatives, an investigation by Electrical Engineering students from the National University of Colombia has achieved the conversion of bamboo into energy. Although it still produces a modest 8 volts, it is enough to charge a mobile phone, and the work aims to apply this mechanism on a large scale.

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