Tuka Bambú and Quick Bamboo – Importing to Europe
by Petz Scholtus, Barcelona on 08.19.05
If we were to do a survey of Treehugger’s favourite sustainable materials (which actually might not be a bad idea, boss!) I would put a pretty hefty bet on Bamboo being close to, if not at the top of the list. Natural, strong, sustainable, versatile and toxin free, the only downer is that it is rare to find local bamboo to use as a building material rather than just as a garden plant. Usually bamboo is shipped from the east, where it grows in abundance and is harvested regularly. So while we wait to find local suppliers of bamboo in Europe or the Sates, (please inform us if you know of any), it is as well to tell you about those who are doing a good job of bringing it to us. FK Importation is a Barcelona based business which is focused on importing ecological and sustainable products.
They say:
We are entrepreneurs but are conscious of the damage uncontrolled industry can do to the earth. We knew that we could create a profitable business without the devastation of forests ….Our respect for the environment means we look for ecological alternatives.The main alternative is bamboo of course and FK Importation is currently selling bamboo under two different brands. One is Tuka Bambú which provides bamboo laminate for flooring, walls, work surfaces, and furniture making. The other is Quick Bamboo which is a new method of flooring using ‘teeth’ to link the panels together. We particularly like this efficient system which is remarkably fast to assemble. It needs no glue and is a ‘floating installation’ meaning that it is fully removable and can be packed up along with the rest of your furniture when you move house. ::Tuka Bambú ::Quick Bamboo ::FK Importation
[Leonora & Petz]
Bamboo is lovely, productive, and efficient. But questions lie just beneath the surface that need to be address. First off there are a great many species, ranging from mountain to aluvial habitats. Some grow so invasively that they exclude all other living plants, if water and all else are optimal. Others more slowly and sparesly and are relatively easy to control. Some are tall, some very short. Presumably some species are more economic than others.
Recently I read that the species that the Chinese Panda is becoming a threatened and replanting efforts are underway.
In a phrase, it comes down to sustainable harvest potential. There is legitimate concern too about the damage that could come if invasive types are spread for industrial plantations and interrupt native ecosystem processes.
Two other items are concerns if bamboo's use for export products scale up to satisfy accelerating global demand. The principle concern is occupational exposure to bamboo dusts and glue aerosols, and also possibly the impregnating resin dusts from post assembly finishing steps. We really have no idea as the exposure conditions for workers in developing nations who harvest, process, assemble and final finish bamboo composites.
Maybe some TreeHugger readers will kick in some observations on these subjects?
http://www.bambooworld.com/
Canadian Supplier!
Flying Squirrels!
Try Bamboo Sourcery in Sebastopol , CA:
http://www.bamboosourcery.com/
Or many others, listed here:
http://www.bamboocraft.net/poles_raw_materials.html
So i would really like some samples of carbonized bamboo, for a design project I am working on. Anyone know where I can get some?
i can supply bamboos.