There are many ways in which bamboo is playing an integral role in building a more environmentally conscious world and The African Life Project one example of this. The African Life Project is a non-profit organization that focuses on improving the living conditions of Africa through the construction of homes from Eco-friendly materials, such as bamboo, straw bale, earth plaster and others. This NGO is passionate about the many uses of bamboo and works to promote and utilize them. They plan to approach each new country and city with a plan of action for them to take to become more environmentally friendly through the new construction of bamboo homes. The first stop on their mission is Ethiopia! Check out their website to see more about how bamboo is taking over the world !!

http://africalifeproject.webs.com

Last week in Long Beach, California, the Long Beach Landscape Expo took place and Bamboo Buddy worked in collaboration with Brilliance LED to help display their lighting fixtures. Brilliance LED is a company that focuses on landscape lighting, anywhere from industrial sized jobs to small homes. They hope to transform the lighting industry and move it away from incandescent light bulbs to solely LED lighting. LED lighting is more energy efficient using 80% less energy and lasting up to 25 times longer than a regular incandescent bulbs. Because of this they are much more environmentally friendly, a trait that it shares with Bamboo Buddy.

Check out their website for more information about the company:

http://www.brillianceled.com/index.html

Bamboo has become such a versatile and strong product that every realm is taking advantage of its potential. French designer Antoine Fritsch created a prototype of an electric scooter called the T20 Bamboo Electric Scooter. The body of the scooter is made of bamboo with a cork seat/backrest and cork handles. The scooter can be recharged and lasts up to 25 miles on a single charge. The scooter is initially charged by man power, but once it gets going it is powered off of the charge. Don’t be fooled this isn’t your average kids scooter, this scooter can go up to 22 miles per hour!!

Soon enough everyone will be riding, driving or scooting on bamboo!!

Each product comes encompassed by its story, whether it be about the creator or the product in general. When you shop at Ecofabulous you know what you are getting and how you are helping the earth. Check them out and see how you can transform your life to a greener one!!!

http://www.ecofabulous.com/

http://busterbiofuels.com/alliance/bamboo-sk8/

 
A branch of the Bamboo Buddy company known as BambooSK8, which focuses on creating a green substitute for skateboarders in the action sports world, has formed an alliance with another environmentally conscious company in San Diego County, Buster Biofuels. Buster Biofuels creates a positive alternative to diesel for companies and restaurants in the greater San Diego County area by reclaiming cooking oil and from it creating biodiesel. What is biodiesel you ask????
Biodiesel refers to a clean burning fuel made from vegetable oil, or animal fat-based. It is made from renewable resources and has lower emissions, making it better for the environment then any other fuel source that is mainstreamed in our society today. Biodiesel can also be used in any diesel vehicle, which makes it extremely accessible. Founder Buster Halterman, former professional skateboarder, believes that his passion for the environment and his deep yearning to try to create a meaningful company lead to the creation of this company.

Some services that Buster Biofuels have include:
-Free Used Oil Collection
-Bin and Barrel Clean Up
-Fuel Delivery

On September 18, 2009 World Bamboo Day came into existence, dedicating a whole day to bringing to light the power and potential in bamboo. In Bangkok bamboo is part of the peoples everyday lives, a resource that is bountiful but rarely used in a manner that is sustainable. The Thai Royal Forest Department recognized this exploitative use of the bamboo and decided that more attention needed to be given to this issue. Since September of 2009 bamboo, and its many uses, have been celebrated globally during this time of the month. People are celebrating the food, the shelter, the products and the income that bamboo provides.

Every year when September 18th rolls around remember bamboo! Eat, wear, sleep and dream in BAMBOO!!

What can’t you make with bamboo?  Apparently bamboo bikes are becoming all the rage!  They are stiff, transfer power effectively, durable, and comfortable!

Just Google “bamboo bikes” and there is tons of information to become a green rider and even put together your own bamboo bikes!

One article that stood out was from The Bamboo Bike Project where some Scientists and Engineers at The Earth Institute at Columbia University were looking into making bamboo bikes as a sustainable form of transportation in Africa.  As their article states, their goals are “to build a better bike for poor Africans in rural areas and to stimulate a bicycle building industry in Africa to satisfy local needs.” 

Check them out!  http://bamboobike.org/Home.html

Wassener, Bettina. "In Bali, Bamboo Is the Bricks and Mortar." The New York Times. Nytimes.com, 10 Mar. 2011. Web. 12 Aug. 2011.

There is a whole neighborhood of bamboo houses, or luxury villas as they are referred to, being built in Sibang, Indonesia.  Each house is unique and has multiple levels, kitchens, bathrooms, and very few walls.  The price range to buy a house like this is anywhere from $225,000 to $750,000.  This development, made from 98% bamboo, is attracting interest from all over the world.

Macarena Chiriboga, the name behind developer Ibuku International, received his masters degree in architecture in the United States where he did his thesis on bamboo as a building material.  Some of the benefits of using bamboo are it is lightweight, bendable, and can easily be treated to protect from insects and humidity.

Each of these individual villa designs can decide to have very few walls or to have a few closed in rooms that can be kept cool and dehumidified.  However, most people are opting for the open floor plans to allow for a natural breeze to act as the air conditioning.

Ibuku’s goal is to eventually be able to take the village off the electric grid all together and put it on power from biomass, the energy that is released from decaying natural materials.

Sign us up!

Designed ultra modern, the first sink is produced by Stone Forest designs. WIth a stainless steel wall mounted faucet, the water looks as if its being collected into the square bamboo sink. See more of their products at www.stoneforest.com.

The second sink is a concept that uses a different approach. Using bamboo panels as inlays for a white porcelain casting, then polished to a shine.

Another step towards integration with nature and sustainability.

And while you’re at it… bring a backpack to the grocery store and avoid that whole paper vs. plastic debate!

Bamboo products create less of an impact on the environment than products that are wood, metal, plastic, or glass. Bamboo requires less electricity in the harvesting process, the soil and water table are less damaged by harvest, there is no deforestation like wood due to bamboo’s extensive root system, bamboo replenishes itself much faster and is more water efficient, AND bamboo is biodegradable. Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants on Earth; it has been measured surging skyward as fast as 100 cm (39 in) in a 24-hour period. Unlike trees, bamboo has the potential to grow to full height and girth in a single growing season of 3–4 months.

Isn’t it time we started thinking about the environmental impact of all of our purchases, from manufacturing through disposal? Go with Bamboo!

This guy’s not the only one kicking back in natural grandeur, enjoying his bamboo… turn your backyard into an INSTA-party in tropical paradise with our Tiki Bar. They are selling like hot cakes as the summer season approaches and people start thinking BBQs and Luaus and Mai Tais. Our environmentally sustainable bamboo tiki bar is so sturdy yet light, bring into the living room to warm up the winter months. Who says grass skirts are just for summer?

It was an amazing living sculpture whose construction was ongoing for months. All day long people worked suspended in the web/jungle of bamboo poles on the rooftop of the museum. This sustainable grass is helping save the planet from deforestation AND making it more beautiful!
More info…

http://www.metmuseum.org/special/se_event.asp?OccurrenceId={9C6923D2-D348-4761-BEB3-A943934068D2}

Think of all the creative things YOU can do with Bamboo!

Check out the solar panels on one of the BambooBuddy owners house.  This unit used to be biggest residential in SoCal, now it’s San Diego County; generating all their own electricity – electric power (photovoltaic for electrical) and heating (heliodyne for heating water)  for the Jacuzzi and swimming pool.

How long do you estimate it will take to recoup the investment?

7 years, because electric rates keep going up.  It would not make financial sense without rebates.

What were your incentives (financial or otherwise) to go with such a system?

Clean and green, no moving parts, just sits there and makes power. Doing something good for the world.  Received rebate to make it work.  It’s built on the side of a hill, so it also provides shelter for small animals during the heat of the day.

www.twitter.com/bamboobuddy

www.facebook.com/bamboobuddy

I had considered Bamboo as not only strong but decorative to construct a fence in my back yard. I priced fence panels and they were more than I wanted to pay. I feel lucky in that I happened upon an AD posted for bamboo fencing, exactly what I wanted for a great price. I made arrangements with Mark, he waited well past closing for me to see the fencing. Once I got it home and gave it a good look over, I was pleased that all the panels were the exact size as advertised and all equally in pristine condition. The panels are very well constucted. It was necessary to cut the bamboo, and after experimenting, I found a very fine saw blade did the trick. I am very happy with the results.
 
Thanks for a great deal,
 
Chuck

BambooSK8 @ The Ki event in San Fran from Bamboo Sk8 on Vimeo.

  95% Bamboo Taxi powered by cocunut biofuel

Landfill-neutral is a label assigned to products that, once used and discarded, take up no space and create zero toxic or greenhouse gasses during their decomposition. What does that mean? These pots are as safe to throw away as a piece of paper. Although you should recycle paper… Yeah, don’t throw away paper, if you can help it. Recycling is just as easy as throwing it away.

Have you seen ‘The Graduate’? Where that guy tells Dustin Hoffman that the future is in plastics, m’boy? Well here’s to you Mrs. Robinson: we’re going to make that fella eat his words. Because if we keep cranking out plastics, pretty soon we’ll drown in ‘em. And I know nobody wants that!

For more Bam-Beautiful updates and reports from the world of enviro-sponsible, businss-tainable bamboo, check back often. Like every day! See you soon.

“When plastics are buried in a landfill, they occupy 25 percent of all landfill space.”
Source: US Energy Information Administration
www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/saving/recycling/solidwaste/plastics.html

“The world’s annual consumption of plastic materials has increased from around 5 million tonnes in the 1950s to nearly 100 million tonnes today.”
Source: Waste Online
www.wasteonline.org.uk/resources/InformationSheets/Plastics.htm

Yeah, I know the brits spell funny… “tonnes”… Ha! They invented English, and they don’t even know how to spell it!!! But I digress. We’re using all this additional plastic, and we’re not being any smarter about the way we’re producing it. Or getting rid of it. The problem with plastic is that it does not biodegrade.

We’ve found a solution. At least for common household applications traditionally assigned to plastic like garden pots, pet bowls and picnic dishes. FiberWare is composed of bamboo fiber and rice-husks–all components are FDA approved! You could eat it!!!

The upshot? These things are 100% landfill-neutral. 100% biodegradable. You’ve got to see it to believe it. These things take between two and three years to begin their decomposition. It’s after two or three years that traditional plastic items of the same utility begin to look shabby, cracked, and weather-beaten. Fiberware retires itself from service as soon as it’s no longer effective. Check out these incredible product sheets to learn more about this amazing new development in plastic-replacement technology.

Bands Marc B., Pawnshop Kings, Humanlab, Allensworth, and Kacie Yoshida will be performing live, local artists, including Jesse Miller and eVocal, will be displaying art and creating live art pieces for your viewing pleasure, DJ’s will be spinning using the power of the sun courtesy of an Akeena Solar portable system, and organic eats and drinks will be had by all. There will even be eco exhibits to view and a silent auction with original art and other sustainable items benefiting Ecofficiency.org.

Thanks to our sponsor Tru Organic Spirits, a tree will be planted for every cocktail poured making this a carbon neutral event!

Tickets are $20 and include two free drinks of your choice. You’re practically getting your money back while making a donation to a worthy cause! Buy tickets ahead of time at www.ecofficiency.org for front of the line access or simply come the night of the event. Doors are set to open at 7pm.

This is a 21+ event open to the public, so feel free to pass this invitation on to your friends. We look forward to seeing you there!!  Also, be sure to check out BambooSK8 and their 100% bamboo skateboards.

BambooBuddy has been incredibly busy working on a myriad of new bamboo-related products, which we will be happy to let you all know about in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, check out this new art piece from Shepherd Fairey.

Mark and Geoff spent Monday setting up the booth with 3 bamboo constructed walls that took nearly 3 hours to put together (don’t ask); total booth taking about 4 hours – full of bamboo fencing, candles, cutting boards, rakes, fly fishing rods, towels, bath robe, skateboards, and much more bamboo goodies.

Wyatt spent the day putting the final touches on the catalogs and brochures.  Tuesday at 9am was bright and early for the beginning of the convention, which took up nearly 5 buildings worth of various c0mpanies from tools to paint to outdoor gardening to random miscellaneous items.

To be honest, we were quite disappointed with the show arrangement as our booth was way in the back of the outdoor gardening overflow section, but not in the main section in a different hall, which had great visibility.  Nonetheless, we did get some interest from a variety of folks around the world who were interested in carrying some of our products.

Having saw Billy Mays a few times, we thought we would get him to come by and give us a shout out but we realize their is a price tag to that.

Anyhow, the show went pretty smoothly in terms of load in and load out, and the week went by fast; great job to Freeman for their logistics and planning.  We were all very exhausted after standing and talking all day at the booth and then walking around Vegas at night.

We had dinner one night at the Top of the World – a restaurant in the stratosphere at 883 feet above the ground, that rotates 360 degrees; the view was amazing.  Another night we all had the delicious buffet at the Mandalay Bay.  We also visited 2 Lowes stores, 1 of which carries our fencing.

All in all, we look forward to next year and hope to see you there.

BambooBuddy will be featuring our bamboo fencing at the 2009 National Hardware Show in Las Vegas on May 5-7th.  You can find us at booth #31756, in the Lawn & Garden New Exhibitor Pavilion located in the Central Hall.   www.nationalhardwareshow.com

kindly,

BambooBuddy

It grows fast.

• Bamboo is not a tree—it’s a grass, and it grows like one. Many species of bamboo can grow two feet or more a day.
• When it’s harvested, it need not be replanted, because it will grow a new shoot from its extensive root system, often 4 to 5 new shoots.
• It renews itself readily, unlike hardwood trees, which, once cut, are gone forever. Canadian Maple trees take around 40-60 years to mature before they can be cut down.  Bamboo is an endless renewable resource.   

It enhances the environment.

• Farmed bamboo stabilizes the earth with its roots, preventing erosion.
• It takes in greenhouse gasses and produces oxygen. In fact 35% more oxygen than an equivalent stand of trees.
• It can also provide habitat for birds and animals (though our bamboo is not preferred by pandas, and is therefore panda-safe). 
• In nature, bamboo filters heavy metals from groundwater and removes four times more carbon dioxide from the air than an equivalent-size stand of trees.

We started the morning early at 6:45 am by loading two 53′ trailers of fencing to start, which required 4 employees; 3 of which whom are owners.  We love to take pride in each part of the process from desiging the fences to manufacturing to distribution so we didn’t mind getting our hands dirty to ensure that each package was personally inspected, loaded and signed off by us.  Each pallet contained 20 fences; 10 yellow and 10 mahogany. 

The following day we loaded another trailer and then a few days later loaded all the loose bundles which went for replenishment at the Lowes distribution center in Perris, California.  It was great to see all that product moved out of our warehouse in Oceanside, California.

We hope you enjoy our bamboobuddy fencing as much as we do; let’s feel good about using bamboo as a sustainable resource.

thank you kindly,

BambooBuddy team

Wyatt, CEO/owner

Greg, intern