Environmentally-Friendly 100% Bamboo Lunch Bag

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., March 24, 2009 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ----New Wave Enviro Products has added a 100% Bamboo Lunch Bag to its line of money saving, reusable, green living products.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/CL88372 )

The Bamboo Lunch Bag is made from 100% Bamboo.
-- Light as a feather.
-- Soft as silk.
-- Strong as steel.
-- Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on earth.
-- A 60 foot cut takes only 59 days to re-grow.
-- Regenerates without planting.
-- Grows without chemicals and pesticides.



Every day thousands of pounds of plastic end up as litter in our landfills. Much of this litter comes from one time use bottles and plastic bags. The New Wave Enviro 100% Bamboo Lunch Bag is a great addition to any family trying to find ways to live green and do so affordably.

For more information about the 100% Bamboo Lunch Bag, and other New Wave Enviro Products or to find the nearest store please visit www.newwaveenviro.com or call 800-592-8371.

Contact: Dan Dettwiler
800-592-8371, dan.dettwiler@newwaveenviro.com

article here

The Painting is by Frederick William Hulme

Bamboo Heritage

"Before paper-making was invented by Cai Lun in A.D. 105 and the popularization of the use of paper in China in around 4th century, bamboo and wood were the major materials used to write on. Generally speaking, the bamboo strips were called jian and wood tablets were called du.

The research of historians shows that jian was normally used to write books, laws or important official documents, while du was used to write ordinary archives, account books or private letters. Archaeological discoveries showed that jian was very thin and slim with the width less than 1 cm and the length ranging between 10 cm to 70 cm."

Read on this interesting article about Bamboo and its connection to the History of China here

Painting by Benjamin William Leader

Orissa to provide Rs 29.47cr for improving bamboo forests

The Orissa government has decided to provide Rs 29.47 crore for improving the bamboo forests in the state to meet the stipulations of the Union government.

The principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF), Orissa, had given a proposal to the Empowered Committee (EC) on bamboo headed by the chief secretary.

The committee, in its meeting today approved the funds which will be spent during the current fiscal. The money will be utilised for treatment of 3,20,670 hectares of bamboo forest with simultaneous silviculture operations at a cost of Rs 13.46 crore.

This is expected to generate 19.24 lakh man days of employment and bamboo plantation over 26,722 hectares at a cost of Rs 16 lakhs in the first year of plantation work.

In another significant move, the committee decided to raise the sale price of bamboo to Rs 2100 per metric tonne excluding taxes and duties. The new rate will remain valid for four years from 2008-09 to 2011-12. Out of it, Rs 750 will be towards the royalty to government, silviculture charges and commission of the Orissa State Forest Development Corporation (OFDC).

The incentive formula already approved by the committee with varying rate of royalty for coming 4 years starting from 2008-09 and will be reviewed after 4 years.

Besides, it was decided that the action taken report (ATR) on the bamboo plantation will be submitted to the Union government by the end of May every year.

In pursuance to the decision of the empowered committee, two paper units of the state namely J K Paper Mills and BILT Limited have produced 1,13,572 sale units of industrial bamboo from forest against the potential of 1,47,300 metric tonne by the end of July 2007.

Article here
The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

When the bamboo flowers

The people of Malnad fear bamboo flowering. Considered as a harbinger of rats and famine, bamboo flowering is generally associated with death and destruction. Veerendra P M does a reality check.

Drought, plague, loss of livelihood, forest fire - bamboo flowering means all these and much more. The threat of social, economic and ecological crises is looming large over Malnad region due to the flowering of bamboo in the forests.

Bamboo, which forms the crucial component of our eco-system, is used for the purposes of construction and fencing in villages. Bamboo is the main source of livelihood for many families in villages as baskets and mats made out of bamboo enjoy a great demand in the market. Kalale or tender bamboo has medicinal values and the pickle made out of it adds zing to our food. Bamboo is also the favourite food of large herbivores like elephants and bison. Bidiramane, Bidare, Bidarur, Bidanur, Bidirahalli, Bidiragodu, Bidirehal - the western ghat is dotted with villages named after bamboo, called bidiru in Kannada.

Read on
The painting is by Laura Tasheiko

Save the Rain Forest One Pen at a Time!

RICHARDSON, Texas, Aug 20, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- As it turns out, the pen really is mightier than the sword. And the machete. And the bulldozer, or whatever else they're using to demolish Earth's endangered rain forests.
Or, at least one pen is: the new Bamboo Tornado(TM) by Retro 51 of Richardson, Texas.
It's a pen that's fun to use. Lightweight, ergonomic, and writes like a dream. More important, the barrel is made from solid bamboo, a durable hardwood that's also eco-friendly. Bamboo -- the fastest-growing woody plant in the world -- is a favorite with environmentalists because it's an abundant, replenishable resource.
Bamboo is also a favorite with giant pandas, who eat 20-40 lbs. of the stuff every day. Hence the engraving of a bamboo-noshing panda on the back of the pen.
The pen also features the long lasting easy flow refill system, which is in itself ecologically sound. (As America goes "green," refillable pens are making a comeback.) But that's only the beginning.

Full story here

The paiter of this picture is Mr:Fernando Luiz Neves Soares

Bamboo can play a deep role in saving the globe: scientist

CHENNAI: “Everybody is talking about the problem of global warming, but I have a solution for it,” says N.Barathi and displays a bamboo sapling wrapped like a bouquet.

Having sensed disbelief, he explains further, “Bamboo acts as a carbon sink. It absorbs excess Co2 [a greenhouse gas and cause of global warming] in the air with three to four times more efficiency than any other tree. Which means, the more bamboos we plant, the more Co2 is absorbed and thus we can stop contributing to global warming,” he says.

An agricultural scientist, Mr.Barathi worked with the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Coimbatore as assistant professor between 1984 and 1986 and ten years ago started his own tissue culture plant manufacturing company Growmore Biotech in Hosur.

Bamboo, he says, can effectively clean water pollution from septic tanks and factory effluents as it has a natural affinity for nitrogen, phosphorous and heavy metals.

Read on

I am a Bamboo - Who are You ?? -Read this story Friends..

One day I decided to quit...I quit my job, my relationship, my
spirituality... I wanted to quit my life.

I went to the woods to have one last talk with GOD. "GOD", I said.
"Can you give me one good reason not to quit?" His answer surprised
me...

"Look around", GOD said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"

Read the full story here

Open House - a poem by Aileen Fisher

Open House

If I were a tree
I'd want to see
a bird with a song
on a branch of me.

I'd want a quick
little squirrel to run
up and down
and around, for fun.

I'd want the cub
of a bear to call,
and a porcupine, big,
and a tree toad, small.

I'd want a katydid
out of sight
on one of my leaves
to sing at night.

And down by my roots
I'd want a mouse
with six little mouselings
in her house.

Aileen Fisher