I’ve just finished reading an interesting blog post over on Crafting a Green World about whether or not bamboo products are actually green.  To cut a long story short, here’s a summary of the pros and cons offered in the article:

Pros

• Like hemp, bamboo doesn’t require chemical fertilizers and pesticides to grow
• It actively improves the soil that it’s grown in
• It grows fast, because it’s a grass, not a tree
• It requires little water
• It absorbs more CO2 and releases more O2 than many trees

Cons

• Some (but not all) bamboo processors use harsh chemicals to turn the stalks into fibres
• The current demand for bamboo as a “greener” material is cause overharvesting of some species

The fact remains though that if bamboo is not overharvested and is processed in a less chemical manner (which is possible and done by some manufacturers), that it is a greener resource than for example cotton or hardwoods.  And it is a very versatile material, that can be fashioned into nappies, kitchen stuff, furniture, clothes and even coffee filters.