Why We Should Use Bamboo Instead of Plastic
Perhaps you have been seeing people buying and using bamboo products more and more over the years as opposed to plastic products and you have been wondering what the big deal about bamboo is? The look and feel of bamboo products are definitely above and beyond plastics, but as you would expect, there must be more positive aspects to bamboo than just aesthetics.
So why should we use bamboo instead of plastic?
Bamboo is a highly renewable, natural material that has antibacterial, antifungal properties and is biodegradable as opposed to plastic. Plastic can take up to 1000 years to biodegrade and is the leading cause of mass pollution all over the world.
Bamboo has become the “green gold” of today because it has so many positive qualities when compared to harmful and wasteful materials such as plastic. In a time when most of our homes are filled with plastic, and knowing the strong negative effects of owning plastic, it’s time to wake up to the green alternative that really is a planet saver; bamboo. And PandaShoots is committed to making this happen.
Using Bamboo Products Instead of Plastic
Our planet has become, over the years, a dumping ground for garbage that has massive negative effects on our environment and future generations. With the “throw away” culture becoming more of a reality, which appears to not be slowing down, we’ll accumulate more and more pollution problems as time goes on. And the main culprit of all this pollution? Plastic, of course!
For better or worse (and more recently, worse), plastic has changed our everyday lives. Being one of the financially cheapest materials to produce on the planet and its ability to take many physical forms, it’s been a game changer in the kinds of products we’re able to manufacture. Think of every cell phone you’ve owned, every toothbrush, the packages you open when purchasing something from the store, and even the materials used inside our cars.
Plastic has been a staple in the growth of our culture, society, and economic affluence, but it’s come at a fairly heavy price. In what ways, you might ask? Well, some include:
• 50% of plastic is never reused or recycled.
• It takes up to 1000 years for plastic to biodegrade.
• Over 1 million plastic bags are used every minute in the world.
• Creating plastic requires fossil fuels (oil), which increases our planet’s carbon immissions.
• Over 17 billion pounds (8 billion kilograms) of plastic end up in the ocean every year.
These are just some of the reasons why using plastic is having a detrimental impact on our lives and environment and why we need to reduce our use of plastic. Each year, these problems only get worse when not properly addressing the issue of replacing plastic with a more eco-friendly, sustainable solution. That’s where bamboo comes in.
Reasons to move away from plastic and switch entirely to bamboo
In recent years, bamboo has been called the “green gold” of modern times. This super-powered plant is actually a grass and acts similar to a weed in terms of how quickly it can grow and where it can live. There are so many reasons to move away from plastic and switch entirely to bamboo. Some of these reasons include:
• Bamboo can grow without fertilizers or pesticides.
• Bamboo is naturally anti-bacterial and anti-fungal.
• Bamboo can re-grow to adult size to be harvested within 3 to 5 years.
• Bamboo can grow in many different kinds of environments (China, Africa, South America, USA).
• Bamboo is biodegradable.
• Bamboo produces 35% more oxygen compared to similar plants.
• Bamboo naturally helps rebuild eroded soil.
• Bamboo almost never needs replanting.
• Bamboo is an extremely durable material.
• Bamboo requires far less water than similar plants, therefore often requiring no irrigation systems.
These are all amazing reasons why using bamboo products as opposed to plastic ones is massively beneficial to our environment and future generations. The production costs of bamboo are extremely low due to the high-volume of availability this material has as well as requiring almost zero alterations to be made when producing products.
Using Bamboo Products in your Home
Not only does using bamboo products benefit our planet in the long-run, but they work and look amazingly well around the house. The natural style that now takes a major role in the setting of many home makes every day have a warm and comfortable feel.
From kitchenware to household items to decorative settings, the number of uses bamboo has is incredible and only limited by your imagination. On top of that, due to bamboo being a very durable material, everything made of bamboo will last a very long time!
Popular Bamboo Products That Replace Plastic Products
Now you might be asking yourself: “What products can I buy that are made of bamboo?” There are a huge number of products that you can swap from plastic to bamboo. At PandaShoots we currently have the following products:
PandaShoots Bamboo Drinking Straws
You can probably imagine that the number of drinking straws we use on planet earth is very big. Sadly, as I’m sure we’re all aware, most plastic straws end up in the garbage, which goes straight to a landfill.
Using PandaShoots bamboo drinking straws has become a very popular way to combat this environmental disaster, and we hope to see it becoming more popular as time goes on.
Is This Bamboo Craze Just a Fad?
Now you might be thinking that this move from plastic to bamboo is just a fad, and I can understand that feeling. Each year we’re bombarded with “Go Green!” advertising and it’s become common to ignore it due to disingenuous marketing and advertising. At the same time, we have a planet that’s becoming more and more unhealthy as the years go by, therefore addressing this crisis by reducing our use of plastic is crucial.
Bamboo as an alternative to plastic is a viable solution in many use-cases. The fact that plastic usage is one of the major contributors to pollution on the plant is a very good reason to find an eco-friendly, renewable alternative, and I’m so thankful that bamboo has come around. The qualities bamboo has can really help our planet and hopefully, one day, it will become more common in our retail world.