Did you know those bamboo facts?

1. There are over 1400 species of bamboo and probably many more.
2. Bamboo grows at phenomenal rates, up to a foot in a single day!
3. A mature 100’x100’ patch of clumping timber bamboo can produce enough construction materials to frame an entire house every year.
4. Certain bamboo root clumps can live for hundreds of years, providing an annual yield of materials.
5. A species of Bamboo was the first plant life to return after the atomic bombings of Japan.
6. Bamboo has one of the highest rates of photosynthesis of any plant species.
7. Certain timber bamboos have better tensile strengths than iron or steel on a strength per weight basis.
8. Bamboo is actually a specie of giant woody grass, giving new meaning to the idea of living in a grass hut.
9. Bamboo has over a thousand household and industrial uses including high quality paper.
10. Bamboo enriches soil with beneficial microorganisms.
11. Bamboo retains soil and lives on even after harvesting the culm or stems.
12. Bamboo is a nutritious food source for both humans and animals.
13. Appropriate, beneficial bamboos can be grown, harvested and treated right here on the Big Island with no negative impact to the soil or greater environment.
14. Bamboo is at the center of a sustainable eco-ethical industry worldwide and that new industrial applications are being developed every year.