Can bamboo help save the planet

Liziqi is a chinese lady that strives for the best in this world by using mind and body to live one with nature. This I feel not only can enrich our own well being but that of our planet. In this video she demonstrates how easy it is to build furniture using bamboo.

Bamboo is an amazing plant. Not only is it one of the fastest growing plants in the world (some species grow three feet each day). It can used for building, flooring, cloths, or even as food. Bamboo absorbs carbon dioxide and releases 30% more oxygen into the atmosphere than hardwood trees. So by demanding bamboo you can help increase its demand.

I hope you enjoy watching Liziqi. She is on a completely different level...



Bamboo houses are only limited by the imagination...



My hope one day is to build a bicycle out of bamboo.

a reply to: glend

Wow I am in love !
She is awesome.
But I tell you,I wish she would wear gloves-I know from experience how nasty bamboo splinters can be..

Bamboo is the perfect building material.
Ive seen it used for all sorts in Asia-from roof tiles to full houses,bridges,fences(tiger proof!),scary scaffolding going up +10 floors,musical instuments,water carriers,cooking"pots",even car trailers.
And I have actually heard it growing-when there is no wind you can hear it "popping"gently-that is the noise of it dividing cells and growing.
Amazing stuff.
When I was high in the mountains of Nepal,my buddy fell and split his knee open on some shap rocks,nasty 4 inch deep gash-so I made a needle from bamboo and used bamboo fibres to stich it up(after sterilizing with hydrogen peroxide.
Worked a treat,and the fibres dissolved during the healing process.

I am going to check out more of her vids,she is really talented.

Love that bike too-bet its super lightweight.

Great Thread

I feel really stupid right about now. I didn't know that bamboo grew so tall.

a reply to: Skid Mark

Yeah it can get to over 20 metres in height.
Its pretty awesome to walk through a tall bamboo forest-I think its actually a type of grass rather than a tree,so when you walk through a forest,it feels like you are insect sized,walking through mega huge grass.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

Yeah it can get to over 20 metres in height.

Wow. That's tall.

Its pretty awesome to walk through a tall bamboo forest-I think its actually a type of grass rather than a tree,so when you walk through a forest,it feels like you are insect sized,walking through mega huge grass.

I think it does belong to the grass family.

During the early 90's I watched a state of the art modular skyscraper being built with bamboo scaffolding in Hong Kong. Blew me away. Stuff is stronger than steel in some aspects.

a reply to: Stupidsecrets

I've climbed one of those-although it was only about 12 floors high.
I was helping my wifes uncle renovate his hotel.
It seemed very dangerous when looking from the ground,but once up there it felt totally solid.

They had guys who would turn up with huge amounts of bamboo on a truck,they would build the scaffold then take it down after the job was finished.
Then they would re use it at other jobs,replacing any bits that needed it.
Easier to erect than steel scffolds,as its so light,and really low environmental impact as well.
Great stuff.

a reply to: Stupidsecrets

I've seen this as well in SE Asia. I've seen bamboo scaffolding up 40-50 floors even! I've seen them use it for shoring/staging to support mammoth cast in place concrete floors 10 stories above ground.

It's amazing stuff!

Bamboo is also one of the hardest wood like materials there is.

To the OP - Excellent thread! S&F. The gal in the video is extremely talented. I really liked how she bent the bamboo around another member, that was pretty slick!

I have watched a few of her other videos,
What a beautiful life she lives.
She is also an amazing cook and forager.

If more of us lived that way,our planet wouldn't be turning into the polluted nightmare that we see so much of.
Plus we would all be a lot happier,at least thats how I felt when I lived a similar life in some very remote parts of the Himalayas.

She is living how we are meant to live,lucky and beautiful woman.

a reply to: glend

I agree, Bamboo is an amazing plant.

It's unfortunate, a lot of people dislike it, because of its invasive nature. It can be contained, with a little effort.

Years ago, a friend of mine that grew bamboo to sell, gave me a container of Black Bamboo.
I set the container down in one of my landscape beds, by my house, with intentions of eventually planting it.

A few years went by, and it sent roots out of the bottom of the pot, into the landscape bed, and completely took over that area.

I am very happy it did take over that area . I now have shade for my deck, from the eastern sun, and I have privacy.

I love this plant, and have intentions of planting some on the western side of my house, to give shade from the hot evening sun.

My Father had planted some giant bamboo on a creek bank, years ago. Some of them grew to 4 inches in diameter, and 30 feet tall.

In this bamboo grove, of giant bamboo, kudzu began growing, and climbed the bamboo . It was the greatest amount of living green material in one area, I could imagine.

I thought at the time, this combination of plants, could absorb a very large amount of co2.

I would think most people would not want kudzu growing in their bamboo grove, and I don't either. Maybe this combination could planted in old mine areas, or on top of closed landfills.

Thank you for starting this conversation, about bamboo, an absolutely amazing plant.

Coolest thing I've seen in awhile. I've always had an affinity and admiration of bamboo. Thanks OP, off to check out more about this amazing young lady. 🐼

a reply to: zeta55

I agree about the kudzu, do not let that stuff spread! It is already a problem down south. Bamboo will really take off too and removing it is a nightmare! I worked as a landscaper and even if people encase small patches in tin, the roots will eventually penetrate and spread. This plant takes consistent management for sure! We spent an entire day thoroughly removing an 8 x 8 ft spot. The little stumps left from cutting are harder than concrete and even a pick axe wouldn't crack them. Bamboo is an amazingly tenacious plant and indeed beautiful. I love all the products that can be made of it, non toxic and durable, and I would love to see more of it utilized.

I've always been a fan of using bamboo for anything and everything. It would be nice if it were more affordable though. I thought about purchasing some imported to or even grown in the USA but forget about that idea. Super expensive even for small skinny pieces. Using natural indigenous products in their locales is super great. Where ever bamboo grows and whenever possible, people should take advantage of this amazing material. It's too bad it doesn't grow everywhere throughout the world. No more cardboard houses for third world countries.

I have watched the Discovery channel with naked and afraid and whenever there is bamboo present, it makes their challenge so much easier. They can use it to carry and sterilize water, build shelters, carry fire, I love that stuff. It is strong, resilient yet flexible. Watch some old Jackie Chan movies filmed in other countries where they have huge structures with bamboo. Certainly some amazing stuff.

a reply to: glend

We need a 3D printer that takes bamboo logs as input and creates building materials as output.

a reply to: StoutBroux

Try looking for seeds not shoots-Amazon has loads of varieties(at least UK amazon does).

If you get a fast growing variety,like this one: Phyllostachys Edulis or "Moso"Bamboo,you can be looking at
wait for it...
25 FEET in 23 Days.
Sounds impossible I know,but give this a read:

lewisbamboo.com...

This variety is among the fastest growing,and most used for building/other stuff in China.
Easyish to grow by the looks of it,but you will need a lot of water(preferablly a semi marshy/river bank kind of area.
They love that water and sucking the C02 outta the air.

Its the only living thing on our planet that I have actually heard growing..
Sort of sounded like triffids-knock knock knock,pop pop pop kinda noise.
Damned weird when I went outside for a smoke and a stargaze-I thought someone was kidding with me tapping on a tree or something.

Hello?
Whos there?
pop pop pop.


Just the Bamboo growing I found out later.

Very weird at the time though,I went on high alert,thinking someone was messing with me.

a reply to: glend

Bamboo is such an amazing plant!

Love those vids!

originally posted by: dfnj2015
a reply to: glend

We need a 3D printer that takes bamboo logs as input and creates building materials as output.

We have this magic already.
In the form of Chinese/Nepali/Indian/Bhutanese/Thai/malay/Indonesian/etc craftsmen and women.

Knowledge refined over hundreds of generations,passed down through families through the ages.

No need for fancy 3D machines here.
The old ways are good for some things.


But I am grateful for how modern technology has advanced medical science and our view of the cosmos.

a reply to: glend

Is bamboo grown in North America?

a reply to: Nothin

That is a good vid.



For anyone who is interested in a good (pre modern civilisation)old You Tube channel :

www.youtube.com...

This is a goldmine of ancient solutions.

Please look at this,its worth your time I promise.

Living simple and hard working like this is the KEY to happiness.

Lack a sense of purpose?
Modern world not quite doing it for you?
You are not alone.

Be free.
Imagine-All your work efforts go to your family.
All your energy-
Working for you and your family,not some corporation or government.

Guess what-Humans lived like that for hundreds of thousands of years.

To be free is not easy in todays world.
it never was.


But nothing worth fighting for is ever free.
There is always a cost.

Theres something about SILICA

Perhaps bamboo culms contain natural communication chips

I mean, how else do you explain bamboo species not blooming for centuries, then presto when one species blooms, all the plants across the world of that same bamboo species blooms and dies off (after going to seed) worldwide?