Bamboo is no longer just a passing trend — it has become a serious alternative to the timber industry. But why and how has it become an ideal material for so much of our indoor and outdoor work around our homes and flats? Today, after all, bamboo can be found in every room and space of a property, as well as in outdoor developments such as decking and cladding.
Bamboo, the ideal alternative to wood
For a long time, wood was used as the main resource for most of our constructions and fittings. Beams, furniture, outdoor fittings such as decking... It was not uncommon to find wood everywhere. But that time seems well and truly over! For some years now, and following the numerous controversies surrounding the highly devastating and polluting tropical timber industry, individuals and businesses have gone in search of ecological and less costly alternatives. Plastic, composite and metal first took over and, more recently here, bamboo!
A renewable resource par excellence, a bio-based product originating from China, a plant with a very low ecological footprint, bamboo is gradually taking hold here and manages to bring together all the qualities needed to do what wood does, but better. Quite simply, everything wood does, bamboo also does, but faster, more powerfully and, above all, with less damage to its environment.
Bamboo, ideal for helping the planet
We all remember the images of forests going up in smoke during the heatwaves that affect us more and more often. Or those vast, once-wooded expanses where trees and vegetation have been cleared to make way for farmland or new villages, in the Amazon, in Europe and everywhere else in the world. The timber industry pollutes and, even though it is being replaced in some regions today, the growth of these new shoots is extremely slow. On average, it takes 70 years for a tree to reach maturity.
An incredibly long time, when you know that bamboo only takes five to ten years to reach its adult size. That's up to fifteen times less time! And yes, bamboo grows rapidly, reaching up to 50 cm per day; just imagine, in barely four days, it could be taller than you!
Bamboo forests could also be considered the new lungs of the planet, because while forests absorb carbon to release oxygen en masse, bamboo, even though it is a member of the grass family, can release up to 30% more oxygen than trees in a bamboo grove. Planting it also helps fight erosion by improving water infiltration into the soil, which is more than beneficial during periods of drought.
Bamboo, the strongest alternative!
In recent years, bamboo has stood out as the most serious alternative to wood. It is a material known for its flexibility, since it is fortunate enough to be made of fibres that allow bamboo to bend on its own when needed (for example, when it snows).
Sometimes dismissed as too fragile, bamboo can nevertheless boast one of the highest tensile strengths. Numerous tests have shown that bamboo has a higher tensile strength than steel! It is not for nothing that bamboo is regularly found in the composition of composite structures.
This strength is also found in bamboo's durability, which, with suitable and regular maintenance, can last up to 30 years without rain, wind, insects, fungi or the vagaries of life staining or damaging it. The only significant change that time will bring to your decking and cladding is a change of colour, as the shade will lighten after a few years. Good maintenance will delay this inevitable change by several months, or even a few years.
ootouch, discover our bamboo products!
ootouch has been working for 20 years to promote the use of bamboo as the number one alternative to wood. And it works!
Bamboo is a material that is gaining popularity thanks to its many advantages: more resistant than steel, more durable than wood, more ecological than many other materials, it blends perfectly with all types of décor, wherever you place it: whether on your decking or as cladding.
Discover our bamboo decking
Quite simply, everything wood does, bamboo also does... but better!
