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Thread: Bamboo

  1. #1
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    Bamboo

    There are already nearly two dozen bamboo titled threads, but they mostly refer to training. We don't have a thread that is just dedicated to bamboo itself. I used to grow bamboo - it can become quite the hobby.

    Stainless steel now obsolete: Chinese graduate designing stadium made entirely of bamboo



    While the rest of China's architects fool around, TU DELFT architecture graduate Shen Chen is drawing up plans for the next Archiprix prize-winning project: a portable stadium to be constructed entirely from bamboo.



    The new structure will be unveiled for the first time in De Brettn, a green zone in Amsterdam's Geuzenveld. Capable of being taken apart and put back together again, the stadium features three major components: a roof, grandstand, and facilities. Inspired by similarly innovative buildings in the East, Chen hopes her bamboo stadium will contribute to the development of more environmentally sustainable ways of construction in the architecture world.
    "In addition to the sustainable value of building with bamboo, the integration of living bamboo into building design may blur the boundary between nature and architecture," said Chen.

    Right now, though, more research into the load-bearing limits of bamboo and whatnot must still be conducted.
    However, Chen has already been shortlisted by Achiprix International as a contender for best graduate project globally. Vote bamboo!
    [Images via Design Indaba]
    Contact the author of this article or email tips@shanghaiist.com with further questions, comments or tips.
    By Shanghaiist in News on Jan 20, 2016 10:30 PM
    Gene Ching
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    Future building material?

    Bamboo Might Just Be the Construction Material of the Future

    Design firm Penda imagines entire cities built from the plant

    TEXT BY BEAU PEREGOY PHOTOGRAPHY BY PENDA
    Posted January 29, 2016


    Penda’s bamboo structure prototype at Beijing Design Week 2015.

    Bamboo might just be the perfect natural building material. It’s abundant: The plant can grow up to four feet per day, and, when harvested, it regrows without having to be replanted. Not to mention, it’s two to three times stronger than steel. But few architects have explored the plant’s untapped potential as a construction mainstay. Enter Penda, a Beijing- and Vienna-based architectural firm that has been perfecting its blueprints for a modular bamboo structure for several years. The firm, founded in 2013, first unveiled plans to use bamboo for a project called One with Birds, which featured a hotel comprising bamboo tents and towers, inspired in part by tepees constructed by Native Americans. The basic tent unit, built using an X-shaped bamboo joint fastened with rope, can be articulated horizontally and vertically.


    What Penda imagines a bamboo tower might look like.

    Construction is relatively simple, requiring very little equipment. Even the scaffolding needed for building a bamboo tower can be made using bamboo. The benefits of bamboo structures, however, are greater than just construction ease. In many parts of the world, bamboo is readily available, replenishable, and, compared with other building materials, negligibly expensive. When growing, the plant releases nearly 35 percent more oxygen and absorbs nearly 35 percent more carbon dioxide than most trees. Canes from one building can be reused several times over in other projects. Bamboo structures can also be easily deployed as disaster shelters to many regions of the world.


    Bamboo structures gain stability as they increase in size.

    But Penda’s vision is even grander. The firm imagines an entire city built with its bamboo modules. By using the designs from its hotel concept, Penda estimates that a city of 200,000 inhabitants could be built by 2023 using a sustainable scheme for planting and building. Harvesting from 250 acres, the city builders would plant two canes of bamboo for each one they cut down for use in their city. The pace at which construction is completed is crucial to ensuring that the project makes as little environmental impact as possible. In late 2015, Penda built its first prototype, called Rising Canes, for Beijing Design Week, so perhaps soon bamboo structures will sprout up around the world.
    See next post...
    Gene Ching
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    ...or pesky weed?

    Bamboo invasions prompt bans, crackdowns
    Government intervention questioned. Ornamental grass has its champions
    Posted: 8:25 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016
    By Lawrence Budd - Staff Writer

    Bamboo, a popular ornamental grass widely available at local nurseries, is also an invasive plant that can turn neighbor against neighbor and is prompting local governments from Lebanon to Long Island to enact bans to prevent its spread.

    Infestations of invasive plants and can negatively affect property values, agricultural productivity, public utility operations, outdoor recreation, and the overall health of an ecosystem, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.


    Darryl Blair displays a piece of bamboo he cut down in the yard of his Lebanon home. His problems with bamboo from a neighbor’s yard prompted Lebanon to join cities around the U.S. to take steps to control or even ban the invasive plant. LAWRENCE BUDD/STAFF

    The organization estimates it spends tens of millions of dollars each year on invasive species prevention, early detection and rapid response, control and management, research, outreach and habitat restoration across the country.

    Federal and state agencies are researching specific problems associated with controlling the spread of bamboo and other invasive varieties of honeysuckle, mustard, grass and other plants.

    So far the jury is still out on bamboo in Ohio.

    “We are hopeful that as more scientists become aware of bamboo, there will be more published in the literature and we can complete our assessment,” Theresa Culley, chair of the Ohio Invasive Plants Council Assessment Team, said in an email.

    On the other side of the debate are people like Zach Burton who raises bamboo on a 100-acre farm in Warren County and advises customers on how to keep it in check.

    “People who say,’Don’t plant bamboo. It’s going to take over’ are just not very educated on the plant,” he said last week during a tour of Burton’s Bamboo Garden.

    Government responses to bamboo, invasive plants

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Invasive Species Information Center funds millions of dollars a year in research on the impact of invasive plants, animals and other species.

    The center includes descriptions of several varieties of bamboo, introduced in the U.S. in 1800s, on sections of its website devoted to invasive plants.

    The Ohio Department of Natural Resources lists 10 invasive plants, not including bamboo. And the Ohio Department of Agriculture is developing rules for identifying invasive plants based on the passage of Senate Bill 192 about a year ago.

    Lebanon recently joined a growing list of communities also including Worthington, a Columbus suburb, who passed local ordinances designed to help residents who find someone else’s bamboo on their property.

    “The growth of the bamboo may cause serious damage to structures and plant materials located in the path of the underground root system. Property owners adjacent to parcels containing running bamboo cite difficulty and expense in attempt to keep unwanted running bamboo from extending into their yards and spreading,” according to information on the city of Worthington’s website about its law, which has been in effect since July 8.

    Officials in Lebanon and other communities in the Miami Valley left bamboo out of the language in noxious weed ordinances used to battle the spread of bamboo and other problem plants.

    The amendment to Lebanon’s property maintenance code bars “any plant species that encroaches or invades a neighboring property or public right of way.”

    The ordinance, passed last month by the city council, was the result of advocacy by Lebanon Councilwoman Wendy Monroe.

    “Unfortunately, I think there was a need for an ordinance like this,” Monroe said.

    A survey of other communities in the Miami Valley found a range of responses to concerns about invasive species.

    Miamisburg deals with “encroaching weeds” like bamboo much as Lebanon, warning the offenders and giving them a chance to remove them. Failure to remove the plants will prompt city action billed to the offender.

    “If they do not pay the bill, we can assess the cost to their property taxes. This is a fairly common practice in other cities,” Chris Fine, development director in Miamisburg, said in an email.

    Honeysuckle is a bigger problem in Miamisburg than bamboo, Fine added.

    In Oakwood, violators are charged with minor misdemeanors. They are typically ordered to pay $110 in clean-up costs and $115 in court costs, according to Assistant City Manager Jay Weiskircher.

    Like other cities in the area, Mason deals with invasive plants through its noxious weed regulations, according to City Manager Eric Hansen.

    “We also try to identify invasive plants and shrubs during the planning review process and keep them clear from city-owned properties,” Hansen added in an email.

    In Troy in Miami County, Jerry Drake, superintendent of parks and city forester, identifies invasive plants and noxious weeds and notifies zoning officials who contact the owner and hire a contractor, if necessary.

    But in West Chester, a populous township in Butler County, there are no rules noxious or invasive plants.

    “There have not been any discussions on this topic,” Barbara Wilson, the townships director of integrated multimedia & marketing said in an email.

    Rallying behind rizomes

    Still bamboo has supporters, including Burton, who also grows it for zoos to use to feed pandas.

    “There’s a lot of myth out there,” Burton said.

    Before planting any of about 1,200 varieties of bamboo, Burton advises gardeners to bury a polypropylene barrier 22 inches into the ground, with a three inch lip above ground to form an enclosure.

    “All of them can be contained very simply.” he said.

    The running roots, known as rizomes, turn back upon contacting the barrier.

    “If it’s done right, it’ll work,” he said standing in front of a grove planted 20 years ago. “It will never go past it.”

    Once bamboo has taken hold, Burton said it can be killed off by covering to keep out sun or through mowing. Paths or clearings can be cut and maintained, according to Burton.

    “Bamboo comes up 80 percent water. Very fragile. You can cut it down. You can kick it down,” he said. “It goes where you allow it.”

    Bamboo battles

    Darryl Blair is waiting for the first spring rains to reveal the extent to which bamboo from a neighbor’s yard has continued to encroach on his property on Deerfield Road in Lebanon.

    “It just grows and grows and grows,” said Blair during a tour of his yard. In one place, sprouts have wedged themselves into Blair’s foundation.

    “I would be very concerned if one of my neighbors planted bamboo,” Monroe said.

    Blair appealed to Monroe for help while shopping at her gun shop in downtown Lebanon, 22three Firearms Outfitters.

    “I tried to get some help from a neighbor. They didn’t want to do anything about it,” he said.

    Lebanon Councilman Steve Kaiser cast the only vote against the encroachment amendment.

    “That’s a civil matter to be regulated in a civil court,” he said before the vote. “It’s not the city’s place to get in there and make restitution on this.”

    On similar grounds, a ban proposed in Mount Vernon, Ohio, in October was withdrawn from consideration by the local council.

    But bans are in place in Champaign, Ill., and in cities on the East Coast, particularly across Long Island. N.Y.

    In Lebanon, city officials opted for an enforcement option rather than an outright ban.

    “We feel like this one is going far enough,” Monroe said.

    OHIO’S TOP 10 INVASIVE PLANTS
    Ten of the most invasive non-native plant species in Ohio. Officials warn residents to be aware that management of these invasive species is difficult and complex. Residents are encouraged to obtain more information before using controls such as herbicides.

    Japanese Honeysuckle - Lonicera japonica
    Japanese Knotweed - Polygonum cuspidatum
    Autumn-Olive - Elaeagnus umbellata
    Buckthorns - Rhamnus frangula, R. cathartica
    Purple Loosestrife - Lythrum salicaria
    Common Reed or Phragmites - Phragmites australis
    Reed Canary Grass - Phalaris arundinacea
    Garlic Mustard - Alliaria petiolata
    Multiflora Rose - Rosa multiflora
    Bush Honeysuckles - Lonicera maackii, L. tatarica, L. morrowii


    Source: Ohio Department of Natural Resources
    It would suck to get busted for bamboo.
    Gene Ching
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    Black Belt Bamboo

    Not that other mag, nor this kind of black belt...

    Black Belt's bamboo bike boom
    Brad Harper, Montgomery Advertiser 5:52 p.m. CST February 22, 2016


    (Photo: Contributed)

    Pam Dorr laughs at the idea that a bicycle made out of bamboo would be flimsy. It’s not the first time she’s heard that kind of skepticism.

    “We just built one for a 300-pound guy in Colorado who’s on pretty rough roads,” Dorr said. “He told me, ‘I’m a big guy, and I want it to last.’ I said, ‘Alright, I’ll get a thick piece of bamboo for you.’”

    She doesn’t have to go far to get it. There’s enough within a block of her group’s workshop in Greensboro to build several hundred bamboo bikes a year, and much more in the surrounding area.

    Dorr moved there a little more than 10 years ago to head up a Black Belt nonprofit meant to kickstart a resurgence for Hale County. The goal was to build affordable housing, spur economic development and start youth development programs. Bamboo bikes offered one unique path to doing that.

    “We develop products out of stuff we have, and what we’ve got a lot of is bamboo,” said Dorr, executive director of the Hale Empowerment Revitalization Organization and its offshoot, HERObike.

    They formed a partnership with the School of Architecture at the University of Kansas, where professor Lance Rake and students help with design work for the bikes. The result is a carbon fiber-laced bamboo frame that appeals to racers and enthusiasts.

    “Bamboo is kind of shock absorbing, so you don’t really have to wear padded shorts if you’re a racer,” Dorr said. “It gives a more comfortable ride.”

    Other companies make bamboo bikes, but at a cost of about $600 to about $2,500 HERObike is among the least expensive options. That’s led to people around the world buying the Greensboro bikes online — most of their sales come from France, Germany, Japan and Thailand.

    HERO uses the money to build affordable housing, and bicycles are far from their only project.

    The nonprofit’s PieLab bakes and sells homemade pies while teaching job skills for the retail and hospitality industry. The youth program will spend part of the summer drying algae out of fish ponds to clean the water and use the by-product for home fertilizer.

    They’re also planning to install solar energy technology at businesses in the Black Belt that have over $20,000 a month in power bills. Dorr said projects like that help the community while also teaching green technology.

    “It’s a lot easier to learn it if you’re doing it,” she smiles.

    Meanwhile, KU professor Rake is researching some new uses for bamboo.

    HERObike has already branched out into making bamboo skateboards, electric bikes, paddleboards and kids’ pushbikes. It even holds workshops to teach people how to make their own bamboo bikes.

    About 30 people work there now, a total that goes up and down depending on demand.

    The Black Belt, a strip of counties in mostly west and southwest Alabama, has struggled with poverty and unemployment for years. Hale County’s unemployment rate was 1.5 percent higher than the state average in December, but that was still 3 percent lower than neighboring Greene and Perry counties.

    So, is bamboo the way to solve the area’s problems?

    “It’s one way,” Dorr said. “In any plan for economic development, I’d hope there would be multiple prongs.”

    You can see more at herobike.org.


    An Alabama nonprofit uses carbon-lined bamboo to create bicycle frames. (Photo: Contributed)


    HERObike is also making paddleboards and skateboards out of Black Belt bamboo. (Photo: Contributed)


    HERObike is also making paddleboards and skateboards out of Black Belt bamboo. (Photo: Contributed)


    University of Kansas student Lyndall Robinson and professor Lance Rake work on bamboo designs. (Photo: Contributed)


    Adam Fowler and Mike Gillis from HERObike build one of the products in Greensboro. (Photo: Contributed)
    Gene Ching
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    ow

    I've been anticipating updating this thread, but not like this.

    Motorist miraculously survives after a six-foot-long bamboo pole pierced through his chest in horrific road accident

    The man was driving his scooter in China on the evening of April 28
    He wasn't paying attention and ploughed into a truck carrying bamboo
    A cane of bamboo went through his chest and pierced his lung
    Doctors say that the bamboo cane narrowly missed his heart

    By SOPHIE WILLIAMS FOR MAILONLINE

    PUBLISHED: 06:16 EST, 17 May 2016 | UPDATED: 09:05 EST, 17 May 2016

    A motorist has had a lucky escape after a sharp bamboo pole pierced through his chest.

    The man was on his electric scooter in Ruijin city, China, when he got too close to a truck carrying bamboo canes on the evening of April 28.

    The bamboo, which narrowly missed his heart and punctured one of his lungs, was successfully removed by doctors.


    Horrifying: The man was riding his motorbike in Ruijin City when he smashed into a bamboo pole


    Shocking: The six foot bamboo pole pierced his lung and narrowly missed his heart

    According to Jiangxi News, the unidentified man wasn't paying attention when he was riding his vehicle and rammed straight into a bamboo cane on the truck.

    The bamboo pole was reported about two metres long (6.5 feet).

    The local fire brigade was called to the scene and cut off part of the bamboo.

    The man was then taken to hospital where he was treated.

    According to doctors, the man had a punctured lung and the cane narrowly missed his heart.

    He underwent a two-hour-long surgery procedure to remove the bamboo.

    The man is still in hospital recovering from the ordeal.

    This isn't an isolated case.

    In 2011, a teenager in the US was rushed to hospital with bamboo impaled through his neck.

    He had been playing a game with friends using a bamboo stick. Doctors managed to remove the stick after surgery.


    Terrifying: The local fire brigade was called to the scene and cut off part of the bamboo
    Gene Ching
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    Bamboo world market

    Rooting for bamboo


    Photo: iStock
    India has the world’s largest natural base of bamboo, yet China controls the world market in this natural resource
    Keya Acharya

    Like the soft swishing from a bamboo grove, last December in Paris, on the side-lines of the UN’s Conference of Parties on Climate Change (COP 21), a relatively new undercurrent of movement began displaying itself.
    This movement headed by INBAR (International Network for Bamboo and Rattan) is infusing bamboo into five of the Paris Agreement’s 29 clauses through Articles 5, 7, 10, 11 and 12, all dealing in sustainable forestry and renewable energy. INBAR, the only inter-governmental organization headquartered in China with 41-member countries, is also working with the UN Forum on Forests to fulfil at least six of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
    Bamboo’s benefits are immense—it restores degraded soils, is good for afforestation and water conservation and thereby in climate change mitigation. It has myriad uses ranging from high-end construction materials to producing biomass fuel with potential for further products, thereby enhancing not just rural livelihoods but an industry, all contributing to the overall economy.
    INBAR has proposed bamboo as mitigation tool through carbon sinks in Article 5, and through innovative usage in climate-smart agriculture, disaster resilience and livelihoods in Article 7.
    The help needed by countries for actual work on bamboo is to come from the technology-transfer component in Article 10. INBAR mentions China specifically as having a “wealth of expertise” in both marketing and technology. The organization has initiated, with China’s help, the new South-South Co-operation on Climate Change (SSCCC) that, while transferring Chinese technology, has expanded China’s business into countries in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and elsewhere. In September 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping set up a fund of $3.1 billion for SSCCC.
    China is thus at the forefront of using bamboo to promote its commercial interests through the climate change arena, a factor that now becomes even more important because it has ratified the Paris Agreement, thus allowing all interventions through this agreement to move forward.
    China’s innovations in bamboo have certainly been manifold. It controls over 83% of the world market, and has seen its industry grow from $10 billion to a $30 billion turnover industry employing 7.7 million people and reforesting over 3 million hectares of degraded land.
    “Much of this work has happened through INBAR,” says director Hans Friederich. “Bamboo should now become a South-South-North dynamic for climate change initiatives using China’s expertise in managing this sector.”
    The India connection
    Interestingly, INBAR was founded by an Indian-origin Canadian scientist, Cherla Sastry, in 1983 through Canada’s IDRC (international development research), then having several other Indian “bamboo scientists”. The initiative set up some centres within forestry institutes in India, but got bogged down by “all kinds of parliamentary questions”, said Sastry over the phone, when it came to establishing INBAR in India.
    “There is continuity in China,” says Sastry, along with cooperation, foresight and their own money.
    What is significant though, is that India, not China, is the world’s largest natural repository of bamboo: approximately 11,361 sq.km of it, compared to China’s area of 5,444 sq.km. Most of India’s bamboo is in the north-east, some in Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and in the Western Ghats.
    But the dithering on bamboo has left India out of harvesting any benefits from this huge resource nationally, in the global market and in harnessing bamboo for climate policy negotiations. Sastry is succinct: “There’s money to be had in this sector; money that could be good for national impact too”. Yet India holds a mere 4% of the world market on bamboo.
    There is a tussle in India currently over whether bamboo is a “tree” or a “grass”. The Forest Act of 1927 said it was a tree, thus excluding local communities from harvesting bamboo inside protected areas as non-timber forest produce (NTFP). The clause remained unaltered in the 1980 Forest Act, but one which is now controversial because of the Forest Rights Act of 2006 which allows access to NTFPs but still restricts it as an industry.
    Kamesh Salam, managing director at South Asia Bamboo Foundation, Guwahati, explains the tussle over control by the government as a “colonial hangover”.
    Bamboo is also controlled by the rural development and the agriculture ministries. None of these ministries have as yet a policy that is cohesive to all. Unless we get out of this policy paralysis with numerous administrative players, we cannot move ahead, says Amit Chandra, director of policy at Centre for Civil Society, New Delhi.
    Though there has been an environment ministry directive urging states to consider bamboo as an NTFP and a Supreme Court order categorizing bamboo as such, the ambiguity of our current laws has left it to the political will of states to decide. The result of this is a few discrete pockets of success in communities in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Odisha mainly.
    Rama Rao, managing director at the Centre for Bamboo and Resources Technology in Gujarat, believes bamboo could be promoted with great effect in the 10 million hectare afforestation scheme under India’s climate change mitigation plans, while the compensatory afforestation management's current funds of Rs42,000 crore offer even more potential.
    With India now having ratified the Paris Agreement, bamboo stalwarts say there is time to mend matters. Anil Dave, India’s new environment minister, agrees, saying, “The past is the past.”
    But will bygones really be bygones?
    Keya Acharya is president, Forum of Environmental Journalists in India (FEJI).
    'colonial hangover' - what a great term.
    Gene Ching
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    I knew this would come around eventually.

    I've grown bamboo. If I can grow it, anyone can. I have the worst brown thumb. Bamboo grows so well that you have to work hard to contain it.

    Bamboo Set to go Big on U.S. Farmland
    OCTOBER 31, 2016 12:30 PM


    Moso timber is the premier bamboo variety for high value wood products.
    © Resource Fiber

    By Chris Bennett
    Farm Journal
    Technology and Issues Editor

    Walk out of the baking summer heat of a corn field, cross a dusty turn row, and slip beneath a 60’ high canopy to feel the temperature drop a sharp 10 degrees as dense foliage cloaks a surreal microclimate. Spaced 6’ apart, 6”to 8” wide towering trunks are the fingers of a living plant organism, pulling in carbon dioxide and pouring out oxygen. Far removed from Asia, bamboo is growing on farmland in the black dirt of west Alabama.

    Major opportunities are aligning for bamboo production in the United States, and even a small slice of the global market could bring windfall profits to American agriculture. The U.S. is a second-class participant in the $60-billion international bamboo industry as an importer and consumer but hasn’t yet entered the production side of growing and manufacturing. However, the sideline status of U.S. agriculture is rapidly changing: Bamboo is set to go big on U.S. farmland.

    Bamboo, often tagged “green gold,” can be used for everything from biocomposites to elegant furniture. As a regenerating perennial grass resistant to extreme weather, it is the strongest growing woody plant on Earth.

    Resource Fiber, a company at the vanguard of U.S. bamboo, is preparing to contract with U.S. growers and manufacture bamboo railroad ties, joists and truck decking as well as selling its fiber to industrial companies looking for an alternative to timber and petroleum-based resources. Resource Fiber operates the largest commercial bamboo nursery in the U.S. near Eutaw, Ala., and is building a manufacturing plant in Greene County.

    “Bamboo will have a huge impact in U.S. agriculture and could reach several hundred thousand acres and perhaps more,” says David Knight, co-founder and CEO of Resource Fiber. “We’re talking about a billion-dollar U.S. industry.”

    Globally, the U.S. is the top importer of bamboo products, demonstrating the massive demand in waiting. The market is established, and the infrastructure is in place. Bamboo is an extraordinarily stable fiber with a wide variety of applications into hard goods, incorporation into composites, textiles, and paper pulp. Akin to old growth wood fiber, bamboo can slip into a multiplicity of existing supply chains.

    “American manufacturing companies want bamboo sourced here and that’s what’s going to happen,” Knight says.

    Roger Lewis owns Lewis Bamboo, Inc., in Oakman, Ala., and manages the Resource Fiber nursery program. There are more than 1,400 bamboo species worldwide, but Lewis says two in particular are an ideal fit for U.S. farmland: moso, the premier variety for high value wood products, and rubromarginata (rubro), a biomass bamboo grown for biochar, biocomposites and a variety of other products. Moso is exclusive to the Southeast and USDA planting zones 7-8, and rubro is less finicky, with a growing window in USDA planting zones 6-10.

    Bamboo production is a combination of tree farm and row crop, explains Lewis. After planting, establishment time is 6 years for the rubro and 10 years for the moso. Once established, producers cull 25% to 33% of a standing crop each year, a harvest that stretches an astounding 50 years or more before replanting is necessary. Essentially, the near-perpetual harvest means the cost of goods sold declines each year – tempting math for any potential producer.

    Moso is planted as a 4’-6’ culm and 10” root mass at 109 plants per acre. Rubro is planted as a small propagule at 222 per acre.


    Bamboo fiber (shredded rubro) for biomass feeds part of the $60 billion global bamboo industry.
    © Resource Fiber

    “Bamboo benefits from assistance in the first three years to make sure it gets enough water and nitrogen, but it’s a very self-sufficient species,” Lewis says.

    During establishment and as bamboo grows taller, Lewis introduces companion and cover crops. During harvest, he reintroduces companion crops into the mix to prevent a monoculture. Culms (bamboo trunks) are cut at ground level and the stumps deteriorate, but the rhizome beneath is capable of producing hundreds of more culms.

    “Bamboo is a colony plant,” Lewis explains. “You see about 50% of it, and you’re walking on the other 50%. It’s a strange, peaceful feeling inside a bamboo canopy.”

    Bamboo spreads underground and care must be maintained to keep a grove from walking, but Lewis says roots are relatively easy to control with a subsoiler around a 20’ buffer area twice each year. The subsoiler severs the root system and doesn’t leave enough energy for residual growth.

    “Bamboo is expansive, but not invasive,” he notes. “It’s easy and inexpensive to control,\ and won’t jump all over the farm.”

    The biomass value of harvested rubro is projected at $400 per acre, according to Knight. With moso, the culms are essentially timber bamboo and may bring a far higher harvest value of $1,000 per acre. Chipping and culm splitting can all be done in the field for value added processing at harvest point. “When bamboo farming begins, and for decades to come, demand is going to far outstrip supply,” he adds.

    In 2021, Resource Fiber will begin selling bamboo plants to producers. The Eutaw nursery is expected to produce 17 million plants over the next 20 years, enough plants for 100,000 acres of farmland.

    “The epicenter is Alabama, but we want to build facilities elsewhere and ideally contract with producers within a 25-mile radius,” Knight says.

    For a crop that requires minimal water and fertilizer, yet no pesticides, Knight says bamboo will be difficult for producers to overlook. It’s annually renewable, produces 20 times more fiber than trees and captures significantly more carbon than a comparative stand of timber. Most enticing of all, according to Knight, over time the cost of goods declines while revenue grows.

    “The spread is what you end up with in your pocket. The math is tough to ignore,” he says.

    Annie Dee produces cattle, corn and soybeans on 10,000 acres in Aliceville, Ala., and is ready to plant bamboo in 2021, particularly on less productive ground as a sustainable farming venture for the long term.

    “Grow and gain. Bamboo gives me a chance as a farmer to grow something of high value and funnel it into a waiting market,” she says. “I’ve got fields that don’t get fully utilized, and that’s where I can plant bamboo.”

    The Resource Fiber pilot manufacturing facility is up and running, and the nursery is expanding in preparation for a major bamboo push. Knight is still raising capital and the current round of funding remains open.

    “Bamboo is an opportunity for folks to get involved with the establishment of a new, but proven industry. This will be a real game-changer for U.S. agriculture,” he says. “We are approaching the development of the bamboo industry in a unique way - committing significant corporate resources to the development of foundational components critical to the creation of an expandable and sustainable industry.”

    “The bamboo industry is growing fast,” Dee adds. “I’m not going to pass up opportunity just because a crop is different from the norm.”

    For more, visit Resource Fiber or contact David Knight.
    Gene Ching
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    Bamboo sticks versus knife

    Well this is a dark turn for this here thread.

    A 17-year-old is charged in two stabbing deaths at mall in Wheaton


    The victims in a double-homicide tried to arm themselves with bamboo sticks from this restaurant. (Dan Morse/The Washington Post)

    By Dan Morse January 12 at 8:22 AM

    A Montgomery County teenager is being held in the stabbing deaths at a Wheaton mall of two men wielding bamboo sticks pulled from the decorative displays at a Philippine cuisine restaurant, according to law enforcement and witness accounts.

    The suspect, Angelo Lamont Jackson, 17, of Montgomery Village, faces two counts of first-degree murder. He allegedly stabbed Angel Alfredo Gomez-Pineda, 24, of Silver Spring, and Kevin Siloe Moya Cruz, 22, of Wheaton. Jackson was charged as an adult Wednesday and was being held without bond Thursday, court records show.

    It is not clear whether Jackson knew the victims before they crossed paths Tuesday at the Westfield Wheaton mall.

    But police said words were exchanged. “The suspect and victims had opportunities to walk away. None of them did,” said Capt. Paul Starks, a Montgomery County police spokesman. “The stabbings were violent and unnecessary.”

    Police and witness accounts painted a chaotic scene, with Jackson allegedly stabbing the first victim and then, still armed with his knife, pursuing the second victim and stabbing him.


    Victims apparently went inside lobby of restaurant to take bamboo sticks from this display. (Dan Morse/The Washington Post)

    “There was a lot of blood here,” said a store employee who saw one of the stabbed men fall to the floor. Like several others interviewed Wednesday, before police detained the suspect, the worker asked not to be identified by name.

    Jackson is in the ninth grade at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville and attended Clarksburg High School last year, according to schools spokeswoman Gboyinde Onijala.

    Police investigators have put together a timeline of what happened, based on surveillance *video and witness accounts. The video shows Jackson always alone.

    Police believe that the two victims came to the mall with two friends, and they split into two groups. Two of the men crossed paths with Jackson, according to police. It is unclear what the argument was about and how long it lasted, or whether Jackson displayed a weapon. Jackson and the men parted ways, according to police, and the men went to look for their friends.

    By about 3:15 p.m., the two men — now joined by their friends — met up again with Jackson, near a mall exit between J.C. Penney and Macy’s, according to police. It is unclear whether they had gone looking for Jackson or ran into him by chance.

    They met close to the Lumpia, Pansit Atbp restaurant, which has displays of bamboo sticks in planter boxes adjacent to the front of the counter and just outside its doors.

    “I was ending my shift and saw people were messing around out front with our bamboo sticks,” said Eli Parry-Giles, a waiter.


    According to witness accounts, one victim fell in front of a dental office, the other down the hall in front of a Hollister store. (Dan Morse/The Washington Post)

    He and his manager went out to see what was happening. It seemed clear there was a heated argument, Parry-Giles said: “One person ran up and threw a beer can at another person.”

    The can of Blue Moon erupted when it hit a door, he said. His manager grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back into the dining room. After closing the doors, they went to the back of the restaurant.

    It was in a subsequent review of surveillance video, according to Starks, that detectives saw Jackson stab one victim and chase the other.

    The two victims fell in different places. One collapsed outside a dentist’s office, according to witnesses, and the other fell outside the next business, a Hollister store.

    The victims were taken to hospitals, where they died.

    “It just goes to show how deadly persons armed with a knife are,” said Capt. Darren Francke, commander of the police department’s major crimes division. “In a matter of seconds, one guy with a knife ended the lives of two other men.”

    After the stabbings, detectives distributed still images of the assailant to other officers. Several of them identified him as Jackson “from having prior contact with him,” Starks said.

    Officers arrested Jackson on Wednesday afternoon as he exited his residence along Hawk Run Terrace in Montgomery Village.

    The area where one victim fell is a highly trafficked spot in the highly trafficked mall. About 12 million customers visit Wheaton Westfield every year, according to its owner, Westfield Corp. The mall recorded $504 million in annual retail sales, according to the most recent figures from Westfield.

    That is similar to Westfield’s Montgomery mall in more upscale Bethesda, which posted sales of $531 million.

    “It’s a vibrant place,” said Tristan Bailey, shopping at Westfield Wheaton on Wednesday. He had just picked up a pair of cleats and a jersey for an upcoming flag football tournament. Despite the stabbings, he said he felt safer there than in other malls in the Washington area.


    “You always get a few crabs in the barrel,” he said. “Some individuals just take the opportunity to do boneheaded things.”

    Fred Gage, stretched out on a mall massage chair Wednesday some 50 feet from the Hollister store, shared similar thoughts. He said that as long as a person doesn’t run his mouth or run with the wrong crowd, “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”

    The stabbings and the aftermath, of course, were shocking to see.

    A retail worker was in the back of her store Tuesday when she heard commotion, drawing her to the front of the store. She saw the victim outside the Hollister store.

    “He was hyperventilating. He was having trouble breathing,” she said. “All you could see was his chest going up and down, gasping for air. It’s tragic. It’s tragic for their families.”

    Donna St. George contributed to this report.
    Gene Ching
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  9. #9
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    A two-fer today

    But look, there's more. Bad bamboo news for Friday the 13th, 2017.

    Car speared by dozens of giant bamboo poles after they fired through side of vehicle with couple inside
    The couple were spotted on CCTV inching across a busy traffic junction, but a farm truck failed to spot them
    BY KELLY-ANN MILLS
    13:28, 13 JAN 2017 UPDATED13:44, 13 JAN 2017

    A couple walked away uninjured after their car was hit by dozens of bamboo poles in a strange accident.

    They were spotted on CCTV inching across a busy traffic junction, but a farm truck failed to spot them.

    It didn't have time to stop safely, and as it ground to a halt, its cargo of the long bamboo poles, came flying forward and impaled the car.

    A woman sitting as a passenger in the back seat managed to get out of the car and rushed to open one of the front doors.


    Car is speared by bamboo poles (Photo: iFeng.com)

    A crowd started to gather around the car and the man in the front was eventually helped out of his seat too.

    The incident happened in Ninghai County on China's east coast.


    The couple were in the car at the time (Photo: iFeng.com)
    Gene Ching
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  10. #10
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    harvest

    Busy harvest time in China's bamboo forests
    April 20, 2017


    It's springtime in the bamboo-forested hills surrounding eastern China's Lin'an city, and that means busy mornings of harvesting, packing and selling tonnes of the edible bamboo shoots that the region is famous for

    It's springtime in the bamboo-forested hills surrounding eastern China's Lin'an city, and that means busy mornings of harvesting, packing and selling tonnes of the edible bamboo shoots that the region is famous for.

    Lin'an is in an area of eastern Zhejiang province whose rich forests are estimated to supply up to two-thirds of China's bamboo shoots, plus a range of other products derived from the fast-growing plant that are produced both for domestic and overseas markets.
    Harvesting takes several hours starting at dawn, and has been a cornerstone of the region's economy for countless centuries.
    The shoots are a regular item on Chinese dinner tables, typically made into a soup, braised with meat or vegetables, or eaten as snacks, said Wang Guoying, a vendor at a bamboo market in Lin'an.
    "The even larger ones, the hairy shoots, can be made into canned ones and sold overseas," she said.
    She was referring to "mao sun", or "hairy shoots", which get their name from their hair-like surfaces.
    Another vendor, Lang Erhua, said, "everyone knows how to cook bamboo shoots here."
    "You cut the fresh shoots into thin pieces and braise it with pork and bones. Or you can just braise it with plain water. Add a dash of ginger, garlic and, in the end, some salt and MSG. It's delicious," she said.


    Men carry bamboo through a forest near the city of Lin'an, Zhejiang Province

    Bamboo, which despite its woody appearance is a type of grass, is among nature's most versatile plants.
    Its lightness and strength lend it to a range of uses including as building materials, chopsticks, furniture, window blinds, hats, musical instruments, baskets and ornamental arrangements. It is even utilised in paper and textile products.
    Bamboo's fast rate of growth is also legendary, with certain species reputed to grow a few centimetres per hour.
    Bamboo is found in tropical and sub-tropical regions around the world but nowhere is it perhaps as important as in China where it has been admired for thousands of years.


    A woman cleans bamboo shoots at a market in Taihuyuan village near the city of Lin'an, Zhejiang Province


    The rich bamboo forests in Lin'an in China's eastern Zhejiang province supply up to two-thirds of the country's bamboo shoots, plus a range of other products derived from the fast-growing plant


    A woman harvests bamboo in Shimen village near the city of Lin'an, Zhejiang Province
    Sort of a random ttt - never considered bamboo harvest season. I liked the pix.
    Gene Ching
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  11. #11
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    Jiading Bamboo Carving Museum

    This looks cool. Next time I'm in Shanghai...

    Bamboo's not just for pandas
    Zhu Ying
    14:00 UTC+8, 2018-06-02


    Ti Gong
    A bamboo ornament piece from the early Qing Dynasty carved in the shape of a Buddha's hand

    Bamboo is not just food for China’s national treasure, the giant panda, but also a symbol of virtue. According to Bai Juyi, a renowned Chinese poet in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), its root implies steadiness, the straight stem symbolizes integrity, the hollow inner represents modesty and its joints stand for persistence.

    Bamboo culture has been deeply rooted in Chinese culture and philosophy for thousands of years. Ancient literati designated bamboo one of “four gentlemen” along with plum, orchid and chrysanthemum.

    “In my opinion, bamboo has soul and can breathe. It would ‘interact’ with people — the color of bamboo would become darker with many years of touching,” says Zhao Shengtu, associate researcher at the Jiading Museum in northern Shanghai.

    Due to its great cultural value, generations of artists portrayed bamboo in paintings, calligraphy or poems and used it for carvings.

    “Although bamboo is a very cheap material, the technique and artistry of bamboo carving is the most brilliant. Therefore, when it comes to Chinese carvings, bamboo carving, especially Jiading bamboo carving, is always the foremost,” says Zhao. “The value of bamboo-carving works lies in their artistry and spirit rather than material.”

    Apart from Jiading bamboo carving, which was initiated by the three generations of the Zhu family — Zhu He (pseudonym Songlin), Zhu Ying (pseudonym Xiaosong) and Zhu Zhizheng (pseudonym Sansong) — in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Jinling (Nanjing) bamboo carving is another main style founded by Pu Zhongqian.

    The former is famous for its “deep carving” techniques like openwork carving and high-relief, while the latter features “light carving” techniques like bas-relief.

    For hundreds of years, Jiading bamboo carving has got much attention for its techniques, design and more importantly, literati spirit embedded in the artworks. Most bamboo-carving artists were scholars who incorporated various art forms such as calligraphy, literature, painting and seal-cutting.

    Influenced by Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism, the scholars expressed their yearning for a peaceful and pastoral life through bamboo carving. Therefore, themes like the seven sages of the bamboo grove in the Wei (AD 213-266) and Jin (AD 266-420) dynasties and “Orchid Pavilion Gathering,” a famous calligraphy work by master Wang Xizhi (AD 303-361), are common.


    Ti Gong
    A Qing Dynasty furnishing article featuring Liu Hai and the three-legged toad is carved from bamboo root.

    Armrests, paperweights, brush holders, writing-brush washers, incense burners and stamps — many bamboo-carving artworks functioned as stationery accessories and ornaments featuring historical personages, deities, novels and landscape.

    “Unlike other art forms of which the makers were artisans, those of Jiading bamboo carving were literati. For them, carving bamboo was not a way of making a living but a means to express their emotions,” says Zhao.

    Though there are abundant bamboo resources in China, only a few bamboos can be selected as raw material for carving: from 4 to 8 years old depending on the type of bamboo, with a straight stem, clean exterior and fine texture.

    “The bamboo needs to be reaped in winter because it’s easier to keep in cold weather when there are no worms. In the 1990s, I used to go to the mountainous areas and choose bamboo by myself. The experience allowed me to know how difficult it was to select perfect bamboo,” says Wang Wei, an inheritor of Jiading bamboo carving, listed as national intangible culture heritage in 2006.

    Wang recalls he and his peers spent several hours climbing a mountain in freezing conditions. They were well treated by local villagers who made them lunch — rice cooked in bamboo tubes. He says the locals carried the bamboo down the mountain to be transported by vehicles rather than ships in order to ensure they stayed in good condition.

    Washed, boiled, steamed, degreased and dry, the carefully chosen bamboo needed to be processed and stored for a few years. Many would crack or go moldy during the period. Only intact ones can be used.

    “In the Ming Dynasty, the artists often chose bamboo growing in Anhui Province, and in the early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) they preferred those of Tianmu Mountain in Zhejiang Province. The local species was called Jibu bamboo. Nowadays, most craftsmen use moso bamboo planted in the southern regions of China,” says Zhao.

    The style of bamboo carving changed over times. In the Ming Dynasty, Zhao says, figures were simply carved without fine detail, which echoed the aesthetic values of the time — simple, mellow, smooth and elegant. The artworks made in the Qing Dynasty were more sophisticated, and the size was relatively bigger than before.

    Bamboo-carving techniques mainly include round carving, openwork carving, high-relief, bas-relief, intaglio and liuqing — carving on the extremely thin green surface of bamboo.


    Ti Gong
    A Ming Dynasty brush container carved by Zhu Zhizheng (pseudonym Sansong)

    “During the Ming era, artists often adopted the techniques like round carving and openwork, which were extraordinarily time-consuming. In the Qing Dynasty, the carving depth tended to be thinner,” explains Zhao.

    “Using knives as using pens” is a fundamental skill of Jiading bamboo carving. A variety of blades are used, including round, square and diagonal-cutting blades. Previously, the tools were made by carvers themselves, but today many artists buy them in Dongyang, a city in Zhejiang Province famous for woodcarving.

    During the 1960s and the 1970s, Jiading bamboo carving was dying out due to the lack of market demand. In the early 1980s, local officials tried to revive the craft. Three young men were chosen to pass it on, and Wang was one of them.

    “We were taught by a carpenter, but there are huge differences between bamboo carving and woodcarving, so we had no choice but to “grope in the dark” by ourselves. Practicing until late at night, we were very hardworking,” Wang says.

    Visiting museums in Suzhou, Nanjing, Yangzhou and Beijing, Wang was stunned by the ancient bamboo carving artworks.

    In the 1990s, the trio was sent to China Academy of Art in Hangzhou to study Western art. Applying the skills learnt from sketching and sculpture to bamboo carving, Wang made the figures more three-dimensional and lively.

    “Bamboo carving is a lonely art. Spending two to three months on one piece, I regard all works my children,” says Wang. “As a bamboo-carving artist, I need to learn about different art forms from which I can draw inspiration.”

    A special exhibition organized by Zhao is now underway until June 17 at the Jiading Bamboo Carving Museum. Some 120 pieces of bamboo-carving artworks made in the Ming and Qing dynasties give visitors an insight into literati bamboo carvings.

    “All the items are owned by private collectors. It is very rare to assemble and display such a large collection of ancient bamboo-carving works,” says Zhao.

    Jiading Bamboo Carving Museum

    Address: 321 Nanda Road, Jiading District
    Opening hours: 8:30am-4pm
    Tickets: Free
    Tel: 5953-7232


    One of Wang Wei's bamboo-carving artworks

    Source: SHINE Editor: Liu Qi
    Gene Ching
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  12. #12
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    Not Bamboo

    Since 1941 It Was Thought to Be the Oldest Bamboo Fossil – But It Wasn’t Bamboo at All
    By PENSOFT PUBLISHERS FEBRUARY 4, 2020


    The holotype of the species Retrophyllum oxyphyllum (comb. nov.), previously thought to be the oldest known bamboo. Credit: Peter Wilf CC BY 4.0

    A fossilized leafy branch from the early Eocene in Patagonia described in 1941 is still often cited as the oldest bamboo fossil and the main fossil evidence for a Gondwanan origin of bamboos. However, a recent examination by Dr. Peter Wilf from Pennsylvania State University revealed the real nature of Chusquea oxyphylla. The recent findings, published in the paper in the open-access journal Phytokeys, show that it is actually a conifer.

    The corrected identification is significant because the fossil in question was the only bamboo macrofossil still considered from the ancient southern supercontinent of Gondwana. The oldest microfossil evidence for bamboo in the Northern Hemisphere belongs to the Middle Eocene, while other South American fossils are not older than Pliocene.

    Over the last decades, some authors have doubted whether the Patagonian fossil was really a bamboo or even a grass species at all. But despite its general significance, modern-day re-examinations of the original specimen were never published. Most scientists referring to it had a chance to study only a photograph found in the original publication from 1941 by the famous Argentine botanists Joaquín Frenguelli and Lorenzo Parodi.

    In his recent study of the holotype specimen at Museo de La Plata, Argentina, Dr. Peter Wilf revealed that the fossil does not resemble members of the Chusquea genus or any other bamboo.

    “There is no evidence of bamboo-type nodes, sheaths or ligules. Areas that may resemble any bamboo features consist only of the broken departure points of leaf bases diverging from the twig. The decurrent, extensively clasping leaves are quite unlike the characteristically pseudopetiolate leaves of bamboos, and the heterofacially twisted free-leaf bases do not occur in any bamboo or grass,” wrote Dr. Wilf.

    Instead, Wilf linked the holotype to the recently described fossils of the conifer genus Retrophyllum from the same fossil site, the prolific Laguna del Hunco fossil lake-beds in Chubut Province, Argentina. It matches precisely the distichous fossil foliage form of Retrophyllum spiralifolium, which was described based on a large set of data — a suite of 82 specimens collected from both Laguna del Hunco and the early middle Eocene Río Pichileufú site in Río Negro Province.

    Retrophyllum is a genus of six living species of rainforest conifers. Its habitat lies in both the Neotropics and the tropical West Pacific.

    The gathered evidence firmly confirms that Chusquea oxyphylla has nothing in common with bamboos. Thus, it requires renaming. Preserving the priority of the older name, Wilf combined Chusquea oxyphylla and Retrophyllum spiralifolium into Retrophyllum oxyphyllum.

    The exclusion of a living New World bamboo genus from the overall floral list for Eocene Patagonia weakens the New World biogeographic signal of the late-Gondwanan vegetation of South America, which already showed much stronger links to living floras of the tropical West Pacific.

    The strongest New World signal remaining in Eocene Patagonia based on well-described macrofossils comes from fossil fruits of Physalis (a genus of flowering plants including tomatillos and ground cherries), which is an entirely American genus, concludes Dr. Wilf.

    Reference: “Eocene “Chusquea” fossil from Patagonia is a conifer, not a bamboo” by Peter Wilf, 3 February 2020, PhytoKeys.
    DOI: 10.3897/phytokeys.139.48717
    bummer?
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  13. #13
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    Water bottles

    In Fight Against Plastic Pollution, Sikkim Introduces Bamboo Water Bottles For Tourists
    Shweta Sengar Updated: Mar 02, 2020, 14:06 IST1M SHARES

    A quaint town of Sikkim is set to introduce bamboo water bottles for tourists in a bid to completely stop the use of plastic water bottles and littering.

    Lachen, arguably the first town to completely ban packaged drinking water bottles, is introducing bamboo bottles as an alternative.

    Lachen draws lakhs of tourists each year for its snow-capped peaks and picturesque views. As tourism in the town grows, so does plastic water bottles left behind by tourists.


    TOI

    The plastic bottles left behind by tourists prompted the local community to introduce the ban. The bamboo water bottles have been ordered from Assam through Sikkim Rajya Sabha MP Hishey Lachungpa.

    It was in 1998 when Sikkim took first steps towards banning plastic water bottles. In 2016, it banned the use of packaged drinking water in government offices as well as at all government events.

    There are random checks for tourist vehicles along the way to make sure no one brings plastic water bottles Lachen.



    The local authorities have ordered 1,000 bamboo water bottles, a game-changing alternative to plastic bottles. While 1,000 bottles is a modest start, the number will increase in the future.

    After tackling plastic bottles, the locals are grappling with wafer and biscuit packets. As discussion around plastic water bottle ban grows, responsible tourism is the only way to keep surroundings clean.
    I totally want one of these.
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  14. #14
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    bra


    I Tried the Bamboo Bra Celebs Are Obsessed With — and I Get It Now
    At 8 a.m., I texted all my friends about it.
    By Eva Thomas Oct 20, 2020 @ 9:00 pm
    Each product we feature has been independently selected and reviewed by our editorial team. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.
    Have you ever been so in love that you text your friends about it first thing in the morning? It’s not something that happens to me all too often, but after wearing one particular bralette for 24 hours straight, I had to tell them — and now, I’m telling the internet.

    “Good morning, I just found The One. No, not a man (lol), but a bra I actually love wearing,” was the aforementioned text, which went out at 8 a.m. A few seconds later, my phone lit up with a stream of emoji, like the overused but straight-to-the-point thumbs up and the scream face, followed by a resounding, “Tell us about it!”

    The bra that was worthy of an 8 a.m. text was none other than Boody Body’s EcoWear Shaper Bralette, a sleek, seam-free style made from a skin-friendly and cooling bamboo viscose. If the name sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because Instagram queen Emily Ratajkowski has repeatedly worn it both on the streets and at home, a true testament to its versatility. I’ve only rocked it at home, but I would definitely throw a blazer over it and wear it EmRata-style for my next lunch out.

    The seam-free design is one reason I fell in love with it from the moment I took it out of its (eco-friendly) packaging, but the fact that it had none of those annoying things that poke and pinch, like wires, clasps, hooks, or fasteners, is what really sealed the deal.

    Boody Body EcoWear Women's Shaper Bra

    Courtesy
    Shop now: $17 (Originally $20); amazon.com

    Then came the wear test. If I’m being honest, I haven’t really put on a bra during most of quarantine, so the Boody bralette was the first in a long time. One hour passed, and I forgot I even had it on — that’s how comfy and soft the bamboo-viscose fabric was. Hour four is when my regular underwire bra really starts to bother me, but on hour four of the Boody bralette, I still had nothing to complain about. So I decided to really take it to its limits and kept it on overnight.

    I woke up at 7:45 a.m. and couldn’t believe how well I slept in a bra. The super soft material kept me cool all night (I’m usually a hot sleeper), and the bralette was comfier than the usual tank tops I wear to bed because absolutely nothing dug into my skin — not even the straps.

    Now you know how the story ends, right? At 8 a.m. I waxed poetic about the Boody bra to my friends and promptly sent them the link to buy it, too. And yes, they love it just as much as me, as well as the countless of Amazon shoppers who’ve sung its praise.

    “I HATE BRAS... But I really like this one,” wrote one Amazon customer. “SOFT, smooth, breathable! It's a lighter support, (one layer), which works fine for me… No plastic on these straps! And the straps are wide enough to be supportive and comfortable. I also like that the bra dips low enough that it doesn't show with a lower neckline.”

    If you’re ready to test-drive a bra that will actually make you like bras again, shop the Boody bra below. You won’t be disappointed.
    I know, I know. It's an infomercial. It just struck me as a funny post this morning. 2020 KFMforumlife, amirite?
    Gene Ching
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  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by GeneChing View Post
    See next post...
    This is so refreshing & satisfying to watch.

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