Ok, so the Bamboo PC was just an eco promotion. A laptop version of the bamboo PC was released at the Hanover computer fair last March. The laptop features a laminated bamboo casing which surrounds a rather basic computer, that alone won’t make much of a dent in the amount of plastics around the world.

Although the bamboo computers won’t make a huge difference to the environment, it did prove how versatile material really is.

Bamboo is surely the only plant providing sources of food, building materials and woven fabrics. One of Edison’s early light bulbs had a carbonised bamboo filament. Because the material is so string, resiliant and cheap to use, it is used widely in building throughout Asia. Fibres from bamboo poles are extremely strong, it both tension and compression terms. Bamboo has almost the same tensile strength to weight ratio as steel, plus it has roughly twice as muhc compressive strength as concrete. And now there’s a bamboo laptop!

Bamboo will please anyone whose buying eco-friendly home furnishings. For a start, it’s a highly sustainable raw material. There are some species of bamboo that grow more than a metra each 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 problem, because bamboo is a plant, all products made out of the sustainable material contains a large amount of atmospheric carbon. Whereas any equivalent product made from plastic actually increases the carbon level in the atmosphere!

Another point; due to bamboo being a natural material, it has a number of variations in quality, size and appearance, all of these differences make it difficult to work with as part of a mass production line. What this means is that you can be almost positive that a skilled craftsman has built the bamboo product you buy. 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 know that your product won’t have accumulated any air miles during its journey 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. Both stylish and natural. I myself bought a fantastic, hand-crafted bamboo knife block and now I’m considering buying more bamboo bamboo knife block such as salad bowls. Stylish and ethical. Win.