Bamboo is a grass that grows from roots and rhizome. There are approx. 91 genera and 1500 species, so with the right advice you will be able to find the most appropriate to grow. When a type of bamboo flowers, so does the whole of that species and typically they flower every 60 – 100 years. Bamboo can filter water, support repair of degraded soils and capture carbon (between 100 – 400 tonnes per hectare) and other gases in the air we breathe.

Bamboo is proven to:

• Remove carbon and other gases from the atmosphere.
• Improve air and soil quality, being suitable for degraded land.
• A sustainable alternative to wood or timber products, so avoiding deforestation and habitat destruction.
• Creating sustainable and circular economies for the materials from root, shoot, culm to biochar.
• Environmentally sustainable for everything from food, fabric, construction, to everyday items.

We want to explore this with communities and understand the possibilities for the natural material, and others, in the UK with our partners; both existing and new.

Why? We believe that we have an opportunity to make a difference. We think exploring sustainable materials with people as collaborators, we can start to make changes today. And, that these changes can be a part of our collective imagining of happier, healthier, more sustainable people, places, and futures. We will explore why Stoke and Staffordshire in one of our blogs.

Examples of international projects:

People and organisations internationally have been working with bamboo for much longer than us. They operate in very different contexts and climates, there are hundreds of inspiring examples internationally, here are a few to get you started:

Bamboologic in Europe: Bamboologic

BambooU: Bamboo Architecture Design and Construction Course

Bamboo Uganda:  Innovation, Transition & Environment at Scale

Ghana Bamboo Bikes: Ghana Bamboo Bikes 

International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR): Bamboo & Rattan for inclusive and green development

Rhizome, India: Multidisciplinary sustainability design studio 

Terragrn : Regeneration

World Bamboo Organisation: Bamboo is Growing