Beautiful Bamboo Furniture from Bambienti
With carbon footprints and global warming continuing to be the major lifestyle issues of 2008 it makes good financial sense for any company to shape up the green aspects of their business. However one new furniture and accessories brand suggests it’s time to take things a step further and start looking and living beyond “green” if we are to sucessfully ensure sustainability for the planet.
This Spring saw the launch of Bambienti: a lifestyle brand which designs and sources furniture and accessories made entirely out of Bamboo, a material that offers strength and sustainability. Their designs are all hand-made in family-run workshops and currently include solid, glass-topped and occasional tables, seating, screens, storage and shelving, lighting, accessories and garden water features.
Bamboo has impressive credentials as a viable and long term alternative to diminishing sustainable hardwood resources. Bamboo offers support to a planet with increasing amounts of CO2 in the atmosphere by releasing more oxygen than the equivalent number of conventional trees, as much as 35% in some cases. Bamboo is also capable of removing as much as 12 tons of carbon dioxide from the air per hectare (10,000 m2). As a grass that grows as much as a metre a day Bamboo absorbs more carbon than trees because it reaches the size where it can start to absorb carbon much more quickly.
To compare lifecycles; Rubberwood takes about 25 years to reach felling maturity, Oak takes approximately 120 years. Yet Bamboo takes just 3-7 years, meaning on average 17 times as many Bamboo lifecycles can be achieved in the time it takes to grow an Oak tree. Perhaps the most significant advantage Bamboo holds over conventional timber is this; when a tree is cut down it is gone forever, in contrast Bamboo requires no replanting after harvesting, it is naturally sustainable. This is because it has an extensive net like root system that keeps sending up new shoots.
Charles Colburne, founder of bambientis keen to encourage the workshops and their communities to develop mini plantations on their land, to harness their ancient skills and come up with new end usages for this very special material. “We firmly believe that greater interest in Bambienti will lead to us successfully supporting the responsible planting of more Bamboo plantations, which will bring benefits to all”.
Colbourne is also keen to demonstrate that the brand is based upon creative principles as well. “Whenever I visit one of our workshops or come in contact with the material and those creating with it I feel inspired. From the point of view of creativity I really believe it’s a fantastic material because it is incredibly adaptable and offers solutions to any design objective. The current range reflects my own interest in Asian culture and particularly Japanese design. However I am currently developing a laminated Bamboo offering which will bring something very different to the look and feel that is Bambienti”.
To view Bambienti’s collection of bamboo furniture and accessories please vist the Bambienti website.
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