Ok, so the original Bamboo PC was just a gimmick. The laptop launched at the Hanover computer fair last March, with a laminated bamboo casing around a pretty conventional computer won’t make a dent in the rising tide of plastics sold around the world.

Even though these bamboo PCs won’t save the environment, they did prove how versatile bamboo really is.

Bamboo must be the only raw material that can be used as food, clothing and building materials. Even Edison used bamboo in one of his early lightbulb designs. Due to bamboo being so strong and cheap, it has become a widely used product for scaffolding in parts of Asia. The fibres of bamboo poles have high strength both in tension and compression. It’s compressive strength works out around twice that of concrete, bamboo also has the same tensile strength to weight ratio as steel. Now there’s even a bamboo laptop!

Bamboo products ticks almost all boxes for anyone looking to purchase eco-friendly home furnishings. For a start, it’s a highly sustainable raw material. Some bamboo species are able to grow more than one metre every day. Local people can cut down as much as they need for carving, weaving, sawing or splitting and still have as big a forest at the end of the year as they had at the start. As for the global warming question, because the bamboo is a plant, anything that’s been made from it contains a large proportion of atmospheric carbon. Whereas any equivalent product made from plastic actually increases the carbon level in the atmosphere!

Another point; because it’s natural, bamboo has variations in quality and appearance that make it difficult to use in most mass production processes. As a result, this means that the bamboo products you buy are most likely hand crafted by skilled craftsman. If you go to a reputable source you’ll also know that the craftsman got a fair wage for his or her work, and that no one was exploited by western buying power. Finally you’ll be sure that the product you buy hasn’t accumulated air miles in its journey from craftsman to your home.

With eco credentials as strong as these it’s amazing that bamboo products can also be very beautiful. Picture a skilfully made bamboo box, lovingly lacquered with 15 layers of natural shellac. All natural and really stylish. I myself bought a fantastic, hand-crafted bamboo knife block and am now seriously considering investing in some other bamboo kitchen accessories like fruit bowls. Stylish and ethical. Win. ;)