6 Bamboo Facts To Remember When You Refresh Your Kitchen

With so many products out there to make your kitchen look clean, organised and Insta-worthy, one material stands above the rest: the humble bamboo.

Here are some of our favourite facts we found out about bamboo that might convince you to give it a go in your kitchens, bathrooms, laundries or anywhere around the house you’re looking to refresh.

Bamboo is actually a type of grass 

With over 1,000 species of bamboo grown around the world (400 of which are found in Australia), the evergreen plant is actually a type of grass. You may have seen forests of giant tree-like stems of bamboo, or the woody products made from it which has led many to believe bamboo to be a type of tree, but despite the impressive heights some bamboo can reach, it’s technically considered part of the grass family Poaceae.

It’s one of the most sustainable natural resources

With much shorter harvesting times than many other plants, bamboo also has natural characteristics that mean it doesn’t require any harmful pesticides to grow. Naturally anti-fungal and antibacterial, Bamboo also grows much faster with less water consumption than many other plants, and has been known to improve soil quality and can actually rehabilitate and control soil erosion.

Bamboo is a carbon-loving, oxygen giving dream

Not only has bamboo been known to absorb five times more carbon than an equivalent number of trees. On top of that, bamboo has also been shown to produce 30-35 percent more oxygen, making it a superhero in the fight against climate change.

It’s been used as a substitute for steel

Because of its strength, durability and light weight, bamboo was actually used to reinforce concrete in WWII. Researchers across the world have been looking into developing the properties of bamboo to make it into a better building material for construction in buildings.

It’s the fastest growing plant in the world

On top of being an eco-friendly champion, bamboo is also the fastest growing land plant - reaching full maturity in three to five years. Some bamboo plants have been recorded as growing up to 35 inches (88.9cm) per day!

Bamboo was used to create lightbulbs

While there are a huge range of bamboo products -- from storage containers ,organisers to kitchenware -- one surprising product which was invented thanks to the help of bamboo was the lightbulb! 

Thomas Edison used a carbonised bamboo filament in his first successful lightbulb. Samples of bamboo from the Yawata City in Kyoto, Japan were sent over and used in Edison’s perfection of the lightbulb!