{"id":713,"date":"2018-07-30T16:54:00","date_gmt":"2018-07-30T15:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fromearthtoearth.com\/uk\/?p=713"},"modified":"2021-11-01T17:28:28","modified_gmt":"2021-11-01T17:28:28","slug":"bamboo-and-the-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromearthtoearth.com\/uk\/blog\/bamboo-and-the-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Bamboo and the Environment"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bamboo forests are very beneficial to the environment, they sink carbon levels, produce oxygen, control soil erosion, provide organic material, conserve biodiversity, not to mention they create an aesthetic landscape.<\/p>

Bamboo has for a long time been an integrated part of society. Because of it\u2019s economic sustainability, bamboo has become an excellent resource. Bamboo has been used for more than 7000 years for various purposes such as arrows, paper, building materials and books.<\/p>

Bamboo Origins<\/strong><\/p>

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It is believed that bamboo originated in China but now grows everywhere in the world except for extremely cold climates. It was in China that the first recorded uses of bamboo were found. Because of it\u2019s fast growing ability, bamboo has been used for many products.<\/p>

Economic Sustainability<\/strong><\/p>

Bamboo, a type of grass is strong and has the ability to grow quickly, being the fastest growing plant on earth. It takes only 60 days to reach the height and width of trees that are used for making wood. Bamboo has become invaluable to renewable products and use as a building material. Because of it\u2019s versatility and the increasing importance of sustainable products in our environment, bamboo is becoming the resource of the future.<\/p>

Bamboo and Pandas<\/strong><\/p>

Pandas are enigmatic vegetarians. Their digestive systems are evolved to process meat, however they will only eat bamboo for breakfast, bamboo for lunch, bamboo for dinner, bamboo for elevenses, brunch and midnight snacks. Basically all day, every day.<\/p>

Giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca \u2013 literally \u2018black and white catfoot\u2019<\/em>) are part of the bear(Ursidae) family, and they still retain a meat eater\u2019s digestive system, with a simple stomach and a short small intestine. They don\u2019t have a four-chambered stomach like a cow to digest plants efficiently, and a pure bamboo diet contains hardly any protein and a lot of indigestible fibre.<\/p>

The giant panda has lived in bamboo forests for millions of years. The average giant panda eats as much as 9 to 14 kg (20 to 30 lb) of bamboo shoots a day to make up for a lack of energy in it\u2019s diet. Ingestion of such a large quantity is made possible by the rapid passage of large amounts of indigestible plant material through the short, straight digestive tract. The giant panda expends as little amount of energy as possible by limiting its social interactions and avoids steeply sloping terrain.<\/p>

Pandas eat any of 25 bamboo species in the wild. Only a few bamboo species are widespread at the high altitudes pandas now inhabit. Bamboo leaves contain the highest protein levels; stems have less.<\/p>

The bamboo used for materials in today\u2019s society is mosu bamboo (mao zhu). This species of bamboo is used for it\u2019s versatile use in products but more importantly, it\u2019s a type of bamboo that pandas won\u2019t eat. This means we can create sustainable products without harming the pandas environment.<\/p>

10 Facts About Bamboo<\/strong><\/p>