Bamboo is golden in the sustainable-life community. It’s qualified as an eco-friendly material due to its fast-growing speed and indomitable vigor like grasses (technically, the bamboo species is classified as grasses). Bamboo requires no chemical fertilizer to grow “3 feet in 24 hours” as a result of a simple elongation of their cells rather than division (“The Incredible”). It releases at least “30% oxygen in the atmosphere and absorbs more carbon dioxide compared to other plants” (“Bamboo Facts”). Compared to other trees with the same fiber strength, bamboo is a productive and cheap substitution if the cost of transportation is excluded. Bamboo is pretty much a versatile wild card, especially to the Asian culture.

There is paper, furniture, tableware, pens, houses, toothbrushes, beauty products, clothes, medicine made from bamboo (also some great cuisines). 

While the bamboo can be a better substitution, the best approach to live sustainably is still being an essentialist and only buy what you will need (at least use it more than 10 times to make the product cost-effective). Most products made from organic, natural, sustainable materials still require chemical processing, which emits pollution. (For instance, the bamboo fabric may not be as sustainable as people thought. See related article ->https://thegreenhubonline.com/2017/11/27/how-sustainable-is-bamboo-and-is-it-really-eco-friendly/. Bamboo may not be the best option for flooring either -> https://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/home-diy/flooring/bamboo-floors-really-green2.htm I was surprised that cork is given as an alternative in this article since I heard that we are on a shortage of cork awhile ago, but I did some research and now people said it’s a myth ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ so I guess cork flooring is a choice). In addition, since considerable bamboos shoot out from the same rhizome, if one cluster of bamboo dies or shows sign of sickness, it’s a bad omen that the bamboo forest will die in the same time-range (usually after flowering and they mostly flower at the same time within the identical specie).

Y.S. Ding 3/27/2020

“Bamboo Facts.” Math, http://www.softschools.com/facts/plants/bamboo_facts/563/.  

M., Emma. “The Incredible Bamboo Plant – Fastest Growing Plant in the World.” The Greener 

Living Blog, 30 Jan. 2020, http://www.ambientbp.com/blog/the-incredible-bamboo-plant.