greenhavendaily.com | green living within your reach

Great Grassy Furniture
Beautiful, Strong and Sustainable - who wouldn't want a piece of furniture that meets that description?  Furniture made from bamboo is all of those things.  As a material, bamboo is remarkable. Not a wood but a grass, bamboo regenerates quickly -- for some varieties, as much as 3-4 feet every day. It provides an elegant feel in a variety of choices.  Bamboo is available with 3 distinct patterns: flat grain, vertical grain, and woven. It's also available in 2 shades: natural and caramel, which color comes from when the sugars in the bamboo fiber caramelized.  In addition to being an eye pleaser, it's also very durable and sustainable.    

What Makes It Green?
Bamboo is the most environmentally sound plant in the world. It can be harvested with almost no impact on the environment and re-grows fully in only 3 - 5 years.  Due to the inter-connected root system, bamboo groves fully regenerate faster than timber without the need for replanting.  Bamboo also produces 25% more yield than timber.  The bamboo plant's stalks can grow to be up to 50 feet high and several inches thick.     

Bamboo plants are also good for the planet because they can grow without pesticides and fertilizers even in poor or overgrazed soil.  They actually feed the topsoil over time because of the amount of "litter" that falls from the plants. 

What You Can Do
When buying furniture, find out the answers to the following questions to make sure you are making an earth-friendly choice:

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on earth - it grows over 30% faster than the fastest growing tree.

I love Structured Green's bamboo furniture.  It's handmade, absolutely beautiful and quite functional.  Check it out at www.structuredgreen.com.