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Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

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Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#81

Post by cmiller1 »

Khanhanhan wrote: post #59
brodouevencode wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Flooring - first it's cut into strips, then boiled in a solution to remove the starchy compounds, then dried and pressed, then planed down for a lamination process, laminated (using typically more epoxy than other lumber-based laminates), then cut into the final form for the end user. Bamboo is a grass, and it's hollow - it neither looks nor handles like real lumber. It's often touted as a "greener" alternative to lu…

I would love to see a website where I could just enter two alternatives and get the greener one. I find it hard to make any decision these days. Should I buy tomatoes in a can a paper+plastic container? Fish sauce from Thailand in a glass or plastic bottle? Should I buy a small item in a nearby shop or drive somewhere a buy bigger packs. Someone should solve it for me.

This is a hard problem though, there are so many variables. For example, maybe the one that is more eco-friendly to produce is less durable and in the example of flooring which one is more green could depend on how many people a day you have walking on it and what they weigh.

Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#82

Post by vram22 »

Klathmon wrote: post #78
blt wrote: post #76

Is there a pressing need to replace wood? I think, at least in the USA, most wooden goods are made from cheap soft woods that grow quickly, and can basically be treated as an agricultural commodity. Are trees inefficient at converting light/water/nitrogen to cellulose?

Well i think it's more that bamboo grows significantly faster than even the cheapest woods. FFS some species of bamboo can grow over an inch an hour!

Yes, I don't have data (can be looked up), but I've read that some bamboo species grow really fast.

Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#83

Post by jopsen »

Khanhanhan wrote: post #59
brodouevencode wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Flooring - first it's cut into strips, then boiled in a solution to remove the starchy compounds, then dried and pressed, then planed down for a lamination process, laminated (using typically more epoxy than other lumber-based laminates), then cut into the final form for the end user. Bamboo is a grass, and it's hollow - it neither looks nor handles like real lumber. It's often touted as a "greener" alternative to lu…

I would love to see a website where I could just enter two alternatives and get the greener one. I find it hard to make any decision these days. Should I buy tomatoes in a can a paper+plastic container? Fish sauce from Thailand in a glass or plastic bottle? Should I buy a small item in a nearby shop or drive somewhere a buy bigger packs. Someone should solve it for me.

1) buy as little as possible - buy used if possible.

2) buy as cheap as possible.

3) invest your money in green initiatives.

That way I don't think you'll go all wrong.

Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#84

Post by vram22 »

vram22 wrote: post #82
Klathmon wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well i think it's more that bamboo grows significantly faster than even the cheapest woods. FFS some species of bamboo can grow over an inch an hour!

Yes, I don't have data (can be looked up), but I've read that some bamboo species grow really fast.

There's also this interesting and devastating phenomenon I read about a while ago: in some places where bamboo grows (IIRC, one or more of the north-eastern Indian states, like Assam, is one of them), there are periodic famines or at least great shortages of food, and hence human deaths or migration, due to rats breeding like mad due to bamboo's flowering (which the rats eat - could be flowers or seeds) or something, every some number of years, and then when the bamboo food is over, they invade human habitation to continue getting food. Not sure if it is a solved problem yet.

Update: Just googled about it:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mautam

Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#85

Post by jopsen »

cmiller1 wrote: post #81
Khanhanhan wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love to see a website where I could just enter two alternatives and get the greener one. I find it hard to make any decision these days. Should I buy tomatoes in a can a paper+plastic container? Fish sauce from Thailand in a glass or plastic bottle? Should I buy a small item in a nearby shop or drive somewhere a buy bigger packs. Someone should solve it for me.

This is a hard problem though, there are so many variables. For example, maybe the one that is more eco-friendly to produce is less durable and in the example of flooring which one is more green could depend on how many people a day you have walking on it and what they weigh.

Also economies of scale have an impact too. An expensive eco-friendly product might be produced in smaller numbers causing more waste through the supply chain.

This is all speculation -- but products made a scale are often made with high efficiency.

What surely works is when we ask big corporations to do the right thing. Or if we managed to tax environmental impact.

Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#86

Post by village-idiot »

Loughla wrote: post #74
village-idiot wrote: post #38

I feel that a lot of concern about replacing wood is misplaced or fails to properly differentiate between different species of wood harvested in different locations. America has a mix of forests for nature preservation, recreation, and lumber production. The latter are very well managed, with loggers very careful to replace all the trees they remove with saplings so their sons and daughters have something to harvest…

What part of the states do you live in? Lumber in the three states in my area is harvested in a completely unsustainable manner. Loggers will purchase the rights to log from farmers, and clear-cut every single piece of whatever is popular at the moment (black walnut right now, Ash and Maple in the 90's). No plan to replant, other than if nature itself makes a recovery.

California.

Sure, there are bad actors occasionally that need to be clamped down on. But it's hard to argue on the whole that the US' forest management isn't a massive success based on the stats from above.

Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#87

Post by benj111 »

Khanhanhan wrote: post #59
brodouevencode wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Flooring - first it's cut into strips, then boiled in a solution to remove the starchy compounds, then dried and pressed, then planed down for a lamination process, laminated (using typically more epoxy than other lumber-based laminates), then cut into the final form for the end user. Bamboo is a grass, and it's hollow - it neither looks nor handles like real lumber. It's often touted as a "greener" alternative to lu…

I would love to see a website where I could just enter two alternatives and get the greener one. I find it hard to make any decision these days. Should I buy tomatoes in a can a paper+plastic container? Fish sauce from Thailand in a glass or plastic bottle? Should I buy a small item in a nearby shop or drive somewhere a buy bigger packs. Someone should solve it for me.

Wouldn't you then get stuck in a local maxima?

Your tomato example probably depends on the time of year, your location, the farm. And even then how are you storing it? Fridge? Cupboard? So probably not generally answerable.

I know Tesco (a uk supermarket) started labelling with embodied CO2, but gave up.

I do agree with you though. Even some marketing regs, so when someone claims something is greener, it actually is.

Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#88

Post by techslave »

unknowns wrote: post #77

As a wood worker, the answer on the post does agreat job. I will add only one more point. Wood working in 99% of cases does not lead to deforestation. In most countries it is hard to buy illegal wood. In South Africa we buy mostly pine where 2 trees are planted for every one sold. These forestries are heavily regulated and protected. They are businesses. The deforestation you usually hear about is in third world coun…

My knowledge is that before oil as fuel, deforestation was a real and looming problem. Oil "fixed" that.

What really peevs me is the "green" sticker "save a tree" on the bathroom forced air dryers.

1. you don't need to save trees. the water used in producing paper is the problem. this is never ever advertised and really needs some attention drawn to it.

2. f' you and your lies. you, dear business owner, do not care about green. you care about not having to deal with paper trash. i could count on one hand the number of businesses that admit this on their signage. why hide it? it's perfectly good reason and no one is going to fault you for it.

3. no, air dryers are not "healthier", it is the opposite. thanks again for deceptive signage.

Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#89

Post by blacksmith_tb »

unknowns wrote: post #77

As a wood worker, the answer on the post does agreat job. I will add only one more point. Wood working in 99% of cases does not lead to deforestation. In most countries it is hard to buy illegal wood. In South Africa we buy mostly pine where 2 trees are planted for every one sold. These forestries are heavily regulated and protected. They are businesses. The deforestation you usually hear about is in third world coun…

In terms of product lifecycle, there's no doubt that wood (or bamboo) is a good choice of material, plants are pulling CO2 out of the atmosphere and as long as what's built is maintained, that CO2 will remain sequestered. Contrast that with metals (which have to mined and processed, using huge amounts of energy) or plastics (from fossil fuels, also a headache to dispose of). Not to mention wood has grain, making it pleasant to look at.

Re: Why isn't bamboo wood a bigger industry?

#90

Post by user5994461 »

jermaustin1 wrote: post #55
OJFord wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, those bowls are great, yet so simple. It's amusing to think they'd probably be about £25 each from John Lewis.

I'd buy them, but it would have to be a set for £25, and on sale during one of the 100 sales they have each year. Side Note: I don't know why they haven't made their way stateside, they are one of my favorite department stores. Always clean, friendly staff, toilets are impeccable (though that might just be a British thing).

John Lewis? It's insanely expensive and the variety of products is risible.

I remember looking at the pans and the fans this summer. There were more options above £100 than below. There was hardly anything basic and certainly not at a basic price.

When my vacuum cleaner died last year, I went to look for another one and they didn't have any except Dyson and its luxury competitors.

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