Archive for November, 2008

Sitting in my final class to become a CERTIFIED GREEN PROFESSIONAL from the National Association of Homebuilders, an interesting discussion came up about the GREENNESS of Bamboo.

While the plant bamboo itself may have some green “cred”. The sudden rise of the Green movement may have caused Bamboo to become an unlikely victim of the green revolution! So before you go out and buy those new bamboo cabinets or install a bamboo floor to offset the carbon emissions of your Hummer, consider the following…

Domestic FSC Wood vs. Bamboo
Round 1- Location, Location, Location

Just like real estate, location is everything in the world of green.  If you live in Atlanta, is an organic apple grown in the North Georiga mountains just as green as an organic apple grown in Chili? No! Just because the pesticides were eliminated on both sides of the equator does not mean these apples are equally green on both sides of the equator. Think about the environmental impact of transportation.  What is true with organic apples is true with wood products, here in the Bible Belt it is much less damaging to use Appalachian timber than Ho Chi Minh bamboo .

Round 1 Winner: KO Domestic FSC Wood

Domestic FSC Wood vs. Bamboo
Round 2- Processing

Being a Georgia boy , I have had the good fortune of visiting many timber mills and have seen the processing of wood from Tree to Cabinet. Besides the pollution from heavy equipment, logging trucks, and enegy needed to harvest and process the timber there are very few other “un-green” elements to turning a domestic FSC tree into a cabinet.

I have yet to see with my own eyes how bamboo gets processed from stalk to cabinet, or even  bamboo bikini briefs for that matter, but from my research into the subject, I think there are some questionable practices in both of these areas.

Bamboo Cabinets:

It is difficult to find solid info regarding the Greenness of adhesives used Bamboo wood products. From what i gather many of the mills use adhesives made right there in the mill that may contain formaldehyde that may off gas into your home and poorly resist water.

Bamboo Bikini Briefs

In the interest of full disclosure, I do not yet own a pair of bamboo bikini briefs so I will let the good folks at greencottonblog.com give you the skinny : “This is also a great site for ways bamboo can be Green”
Round 2 Winner: TKO Domestic FSC Wood

Round 3: I’m off to the NARI meeting tonight… I will finish this post later tonight