Durable and eco- friendly
ARE you keen to update your kitchen but don’t want to add to environmental destruction? Bamboo furniture, flooring, cupboards, screens, backing and other products are beautiful and plentiful.
Sanded and sealed, bamboo becomes durable and beautiful with its own colouring accented and brought to the eye with plain or high shine gloss.
It works well with many different styles, from plain white walls to avant garde designs.
Finally, bamboo can be stained or painted if you prefer something other than natural gloss.
We tend to think of bamboo as flexible, which it is, but thanks to clever coatings it is also much more durable than you might imagine.
For floors, strand woven bamboo is tough, flexible, softer on feet ( and tumbling kids) than marble and can come with warranties up to 25 years.
Bamboo is generally promoted as “green” because it’s fast- growing and Asian but the fact is that processing can often involve a lot of chemicals.
Also, you don’t want to encourage even more companies to chop down forests in order to create bamboo farms.
Although it’s difficult to find out what bamboo products are best, one way to look out for the good stuff is to check the labelling. The World Wildlife Fund ( WWF) Global Forest Trade Network’s panda and FSC Forest stewardship council’s tree are iconic and well known.
Less well known are the European Union EcoLabel that looks like a green flower with an E as a bloom and the GreenLabel Singapore stamp.
Basically, both offer similar standards with products endorsed promoting recycled products, items sourced from sustainably managed forests, limited chemical use and more.
So when you’re thinking of an update, do consider going panda with your flexible eco friend, the bamboo.