Bambu Baby Shower, but What About Homegrown Bamboo?
by George Spyros, New York City, USA on 06.17.07
When your family has an eco-rep (utation), your friends know to not only make it green but in terms of aesthetics to make it good too. So when my wife's friend threw her a baby shower, she ordered Bambu Veneerware from Greenfeet .com to enhance the tasteful and tasty nature of the experience. The plates are as lovely in person as they are in their picture, however they come wrapped in a petroleum-based plastic shrink wrap proclaiming the ubiquitous free-trade factoid "Made in China." We can speculate that the products may even have been shipped on vessels that typically burn bunker fuel, a form of low-grade diesel left over from the refining of gasoline and other diesels -- literally the bottom of the barrel, with sulfur content 3,000 times higher than the fuel used in new diesel trucks. But large-scale commercial bamboo farming in the United States failed to take root even after the years between 1890 and 1960 when the U.S. Department of Agriculture, recognizing the potential particularly of Asian bamboos, paid plant explorers to find, select and import farmable bamboos.
Bamboo in general is a hearty plant and while it may be beneficial from a susty point of view that it grows back completely in only three years it can be, like some house guests which start to stink after three days, very difficult to get rid of. Some species such as Golden Bamboo are invasive in the U.S. and wind up compromising indigenous species of plants. With the proper precautions, we would hope that in future, locally grown bamboo will become a viable component of our Veneerware.
And once that wrapper is off, these plates bring green to your nostrils with the aroma of fresh-cut bamboo -- a truly wonderful experience. And like the old Chinette tv commercial, the food doesn't slip from these hearty plates. The manufacturer recommendation is for single use and as Kara suggested, we attempted washing them for reuse, but however much we tried food odors would not wash out. Worry not, these guys composte to biodegrade in four to six months time, continuing the nutrient cycle of which they are a part. Bambu Venereware made for great green conversation around pending baby's arrival and in general are a great product.
Re Bambu Baby Shower......How can anything that is used once
and tossed be considered a "great product"?
Also , there are native US/North America bamboo varieties that are non-invasive ...
purchasing bambu in the bulk packs at joannehudson.com will save you from having any plastic wrappers at all.
It's just a sleeve of 100 Bambu veneerware plates in a recyclable box. It's also much cheaper.
I wish to thank George and his family for using our All Occasion Veneerware and especially for his comments. It's meaningful to hear from customers and non-customers alike who take the time to share their experiences and views.
We are pleased that this is an important issue for you...as it is for us.
We do our utmost to minimize waste and try best we can to make decisions that are in line with our principles and practices. However, we also have to consider, FDA regulations, transportation and doing everything we can to ensure the product arrives to the customer in excellent condition.
The FDA states that because our All Occasion Veneerware® has been classified as ‘single-use’ product, we are required by law to adher to a safe and sanitary process and use food safe material. The product has also been sanitized therefore this type of packaging is necessary. So consumers can view the beauty of the product, we have chosen food grade plastic. The material is a combination of PET and PE (Polyethylene Terephthalate and polyethylene). In many states and countries this is recyclable.
We have developed this unique product living and working in China where the maerial is abundant and the technology exists to create such a product.
Yes, unfortunately, we do have to rely on ocean shipping to transport our proudct, but feel it is better than the other alternatives that we have.
Some day, we would love to see a locally derived product.
Delighted you and your guests were able to enjoy our products.
kind regards
Jeff Delkin
president | cofounder
bambu