I have recently been getting into bamboo. Everything to do with bamboo. The science of bamboo, the benefits of bamboo, bamboo in Asian culture, bamboo kitchen equipment, bamboo medicine in Northern Assam, bamboo delicacies in Indonesia, bamboo flooring as an alternative to hardwood flooring, bamboo as a symbol for the ideal Confucian man, bamboo to replace iron in concrete columns and bamboo furniture. And I have sadly seen the pejorative epithet “trendy” being used to describe the recent upsurge in interest in bamboo products.

“Trendy” is a clever put-down. It is a backhanded compliment because it appears to say bamboo is fashionable and ‘now’, but really it is saying that people’s fascination with bamboo is a fad, something short-lived and ephemeral. Who are these people? Do they also think that the concerted efforts of a growing number of consumers to be more discerning in their purchases so as to help the poor farmers of the developing world get a fair price for their products is also just a passing whim of fashion. Are these deriders of bamboo mocking of those who seek organic food and products that aren’t made at the expense of chopping down rain forests? I suspect they are.

Well we are entitled to our opinions. Even the sarcastic have a role to play in the internet forum of free speech. One and a half acres of rain forest are lost every half second. 50,000 species of flora and fauna become extinct every year in the world’s rain forests. 25% of Western pharmaceuticals are derived from rain forests plants, and yet, we have only tested 1% of the flora on offer for its medicinal purposes. And yet protecting rainforests by choosing alternatives to hardwoods is trendy. Well in 40 years at our current rate of deforestation there will be no more rainforests left to preserve. That will end that fad.

There is no doubting that we cannot get by in our lives without wood. It is strong and natural and its products are largely allergen free. Wood is aesthetically satisfying. We want wooden products around us. Wood connects us to the history of the planet in a way that plastic never can. And yet our need for connection is causing irreparable damage to the planet and to the quality of life of future generations.

The answer is not necessarily to abandon using wood for our furniture and other household items. Trees, like everything else, have a life span. Dead trees can be used. One tree in an acre of thick jungle can be taken and the jungle soon reclaims the space for some other oxygen provider. What I am talking about is forest management. The Forest Stewardship Council is doing sterling work across the globe in educating and overseeing sustainable forestry businesses. People can profit from wood without leading to the eradication of natural habitat. People can wise up and nurture the goose that lays the golden egg instead of dissecting it in an attempt to isolate the gold-creating gene.

And one of the ways that we can best mature as a race is by learning to take the pressure off nature. Nature has an awesome capacity to rejuvenate and regenerate, to absorb and nullify toxins and poisons. But every camel’s back has its breaking point.

That’s why I believe that bamboo, like jute and coconut and hemp is there for us to use for more of our needs. We don’t need teak, mahogany, pine, maple and oak as much as we think we do. Bamboo is a grass and it is the fastest growing thing on the planet. Instead of taking a century to mature it takes only 5 or 6 years to be ready for harvesting. Bamboo doesn’t need to be planted because it puts out new shoots by itself. Bamboo doesn’t drain the soil of nitrogen. Bamboo doesn’t need pesticides to flourish because it produces its own pathogen fighting chemicals.

And now the technology exists to make bamboo as strong and as durable as oak. The bamboo can be shredded and pressed into a plank that resembles timber. Nothing of the plant is wasted with the process. The resulting strand woven bamboo has a Janka Hardness rating of 3000 PSI. That is some serious hardness. A hardness that is suitable for making flooring that looks and feels like hardwood flooring. A flooring that has a beautiful grain, that is easy to clean and that prevents the build-up of allergens in a house. Strand woven bamboo flooring can be as much as 50% cheaper than traditional hardwood flooring that causes the chopping down of life-enhancing rainforests. What is so trendy about that? Not fashionable but common sense and good practice is what I call it.