Bamboo’s intrinsic qualities – its beauty, strength, durability and renewability, among others – fascinated people for centuries long before climate change put it in the headlines.  As the holidays approach, this issue of Green Shoots focuses on the simplicity and practicality of bamboo and looks at ways bamboo can be used in unusual ways –to celebrate rituals, symbolize health and happiness, entertain our families and even stand in for that most evergreen of traditions, the Christmas tree.

::The Bamboo Christmas Tree::

Both bamboo and glass have always been examples of great strength and longevity in nature.  Seattle glass artist Jean-Pierre Canlis has combined the two to create his signature Bamboo Installations. Canlis is an acclaimed, in-demand glass artist whose creations are displayed throughout the Pacific Northwest and beyond. For Seattle’s annual O’Christmas Trees auction this year, he created a custom, hand-sculpted, glass Bamboo Tree.  As the event’s Presenting Artist, Canlis donated the tree which was auctioned to raise funds for senior and community services.

Watch a video of Canlis making the bamboo Christmas tree.

Learn more about Canlis by visiting www.canlisglass.com

::Dao Delux Game::

If you’re bored with playing the same board game each holiday season, put your refined game-playing skills to the test in a new competition.  While your Uncle Ron may hold the record for Pictionary, you can wipe the scoreboard clean and start fresh the Dao Deluxe Game.

According to uncommongoods.com, the Dao Deluxe Game is fun to play and easy to learn but tough to master.

Bamboo fans will be excited to know the game is packaged in a hollow piece of bamboo that serves as a convenient storage and carrying case for eight natural stone playing pieces, a bamboo board that rolls up, and instructions printed on parchment.

Aficionados claim Dao Deluxe helps calm and center its players, by replicating the natural flow and movement of the universe. Sure beats the lack of flow and movement at airports and malls across the country this time of year.

::Bamboo Therapy ::

Aromatherapy benefits the physical and mental well-being of those who practice it.  At Cali Bamboo, we understand the importance of making your guests feel at home when they visit for the holidays.  That’s why we have introduced the Cali Bamboo Candles just in time for the holiday season.

The rich coconut scent is an excellent way to sooth and relax the mind while the crisp lime scent energizes and revitalizes the body.  The bamboo casing helps green the already environmentally-friendly product made of soybean slowburn wax.  Plus, the Feng Shui luck wealth coin is sure to bring good luck to you and your loved ones throughout the New Year.

If you can’t decide which size Aunt Martha would prefer, Cali Bamboo also has gift cards available this holiday season.  An added bonus:  recent market studies show recipients feel better about receiving gifts that are environmentally sound and renewable.

::Dance::

When the Christmas Party chit-chat and egg-nog leaves something to be desired, introduce your friends to Tinikling (sounds like “tickling”), a folk dance from the Philippines. It is a fast-moving traditional Filipino dance to your guests that ensures they won’t over-indulge.

While at least one pair of people must clap together bamboo poles to create a rhythm and challenge the dancers, participants jump to move their feet quickly out of the way of the bamboo poles before the clappers hit them together.  Who knew bamboo could be so fun!

To view a demonstration, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0towc-zxwLM
Source: Wikipedia.org

Happy Holidays.  Consider taking the New Year as an opportunity to make a difference in the world around you.  Start small, with your family, your neighborhood or a regional issue.  Over time, our individual efforts to bring positive change to the planet can have tremendous collective impact.

Your Friends,

::Green Gratitude::

At this year’s Thanksgiving, rather than just saying what you’re thankful for, show appreciation for the earth by providing your guests with an eco-friendly celebration of gratitude. In this edition of Green Shoots, Cali Bamboo shares our favorite tips on how to incorporate natural products into your holiday celebration and ultimately transform your home into a green living retreat.

::Cali Bamboo has a Cali Thanksgiving::

To truly show appreciation for the ground beneath your feet, Cali Bamboo recommends serving a Thanksgiving meal with food grown within a 100-mile radius of your home. Buying from your neighbors reduces the impacts of transportation. Local food also uses less packaging and is fresher. Support your local farmers’ market, and if there isn’t one in your community, get organized.   Visit CaFarmersMarkets.org or this link at the University Of Florida to learn how to start farmer’s markets in California or Florida. Most other states have online resources on the topic as well. Make a lasting difference in your community.

“When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them.” -Chinese Proverb

::Toasty Thanksgiving ::As the crisp fall days are slipping by, making way for winter, memories of long summer days continue to keep us warm. Bamboo is another way to provide warmth to any room. Straight from sunny California, Cali Bamboo products add a touch of warmth to the coldest winter places. Free of the overbearing knots found in traditional wood, but full of character and uniqueness, bamboo flooring is an excellent way to subtly bring the outdoor feeling inside.

::Add Spice With Bamboo ::

Rather than using traditional flowers in a vase as a table centerpiece, try lucky bamboo. It will add a natural touch to your table and can be a conversation piece for your guests on Thanksgiving.  Lucky bamboo is also known to bring good fortune, it may even help your football team win!

If you need even more luck, light up the room with bamboo candles.  Cali Bamboo’s new line of candles are accented with a Feng Shui luck wealth coin. These coconut-lime scented candles will bring joy and warmth to any room.

::Giving Thanks To The Earth::
After you’ve enjoyed your Thanksgiving bounty, mark the holiday by making a permanent reminder of your thanks – plant bamboo.  Hearty Bamboo is known to survive even Denver’s cold winters.  Not only will you add some beauty to your backyard, but bamboo releases 35% more oxygen than equivalent size trees.  Visit the Denver Zoo for more information on the various types of bamboo to consider for planting.

::365 Days Of Thanks::

The environment is a top priority here at Cali Bamboo, and we hope you will take these Thanksgiving tips a step farther by incorporating sustainable and green products into your home year-round.

Your Friends,

::CALI BAMBOO: Why We’re Unique::

Each bamboo shoot is one-of-a-kind which is what makes our fences, flooring and other products special. Every piece of bamboo has its own patterns and markings, each with a unique story to tell.

The same is true of Cali Bamboo’s globe-trotting staff. In this issue of Green Shoots, we’d like to share a few stories from team members about the unexpected places we’ve found bamboo and the insights our travel experiences have provided on bamboo’s significance and the meaning of our work serving Cali Bamboo customers and saving the planet.

::Shamrocks, St. Patrick’s Day and…Bamboo?!::

Janneke recently visited Great Britain to indulge in some British humor and reconnect with family members there. On the south west coast of Ireland, she came across a patch of green not usually associated with the Emerald Isle, a bamboo park!

::Tree Hugging – A Whole Lot to Love::
Sequoia National Park has the heart of two Cali Bamboo team members, Robert and Seth. The beauty, greatness and vulnerability of the Giant Sequoias gave Seth renewed enthusiasm for his work and for Cali Bamboo’s focus on renewable resources. And Robert realized the impact bamboo can have in the preservation of Sequoia and other species that take centuries to grow back to their full size.

::What Green Means around the Globe::

Josh spent three months in south east Asia, where bamboo was used for everything from 80-foot scaffoldings to food. Most of the buildings where Josh stayed during his trip were built of and decorated with bamboo.

The lack of recycling and trash disposal programs contrasted sharply with the innovative, sustainable building practices he saw there.

Josh’s conclusion: “We in America have a responsibility to help sustain the third world countries of the planet and move our knowledge of green living and sustainability to prevent the burning up of vitality.”

SIMPLE CAN BE BETTER

While Erik traveled abroad, he discovered many cultures that found endless ways of extracting multiple products from native resources. Thailand’s ingenious use of coconut and bamboo helped it rely less on imported materials. Thais used the whole coconut — for its meat, its milk, even as firewood. Thai houses, brooms, baskets, poles for carrying heavy loads all were made from bamboo.

In Costa Rica, Erik discovered several more innovative uses for bamboo. He found an outdoor yoga studio made with huge bamboo poles-approximately 10 inches in diameter-and earthy plaster for the walls.

In Panama, bamboo paddles propelled boats and massive bamboo poles provided structural support for buildings.

::The Power Of Bamboo::

As the Cali Bamboo staff found on their travels, nature provides opportunities to correct imbalances and clean up mistakes made by humans. Bamboo is one tool in our arsenal for healing the environment. Planted on a mass basis, it theoretically could start toreverse the effects of global warming in just 6 years. That’s power. Use it wisely!

Your Friends,

According to a Philippine creation myth, the first man and woman were made from a bamboo plant, which grew from the marriage between Sky and Ocean. Bamboo plays a central role in hundreds of myths and legends around the globe. And nearly all of them acknowledge the interdependence this most amazing and useful of plants enjoys with the air (Sky) and water (Ocean), two elements essential for life.

This month, Green Shoots highlights bamboo’s ability to cleanse and purify air and water, and contribute to the renewed health of planet Earth.

::Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on EARTH::
Bamboo forests cover nearly 35 million acres of the Earth’s surface. While the trees that make up deciduous and conifer forests can take 30 to 50 years to regenerate after harvesting, bamboo requires just six months to mature. And the root systems in a bamboo forest remain alive and vigilant against erosion, even while the young, tender shoots are first re-emerging.

CALI BAMBOO TIP: Accent the earth around your home with a renewable resource – a beautiful bamboo fence. Use a darker-colored bamboo around the edges of each panel to create a picture frame look. Many people are surprised to learn that bamboo fences can last 20 years or more, even in harsh climates. They’re strong, but as Cali Bamboo customers in Hurricane Alley have shown us, flexible enough to stand up to a fierce gale.

::Bamboo cleans the AIR::
All plants take in carbon dioxide (CO2) and emit oxygen (O2), which cleans the air and on a large enough scale, could reverse global warming. But bamboo, technically a grass, removes more carbon dioxide than most trees because of its exceptionally fast growth. Planting more bamboo around the globe is a viable tactic for slowing climate change.Botanists say bamboo absorbs 4 times more carbon dioxide than trees similar in size but can also produce 30%-40% more oxygen. By using bamboo as the basis for many new products, not only do we save traditional forests but we also promote vast planting of this wondrous grass.

::FIRE-proof bamboo::
People have flocked to Madrid for centuries for its hot climate and spicy food. While the city’s culture may be fiery and passionate, its airport is fire-resistant, thanks to a new 230,000-square-metre fireproof bamboo ceiling. Five-layered bamboo strips were specially designed for this unique application, then treated for fire and humidity resistance. Eco-friendly architecture at its most innovative, the structure is shaped like a wave, both for aesthetic appeal and to enhance the feeling of well-being. In the upcoming holiday travel season, a layover in Madrid could be just the thing to renew a traveler’s spirit. This multiple design award-winning airport was designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners.

As Treehugger.com noted, “Not one fluorescent tube, ugly ceiling tile or cold metal sheet roofing can be found here. The result apart from saving energy is a beautiful play of changing daylight along the bamboo roof and the rest of the interiors (thin tree-like columns and glass walls). When there’s no daylight, pools of electric lighting illuminate the spaces.”

::The Cali Bamboo team hits the WATER::
Cali Bamboo donates a portion of its revenues to eco-activists like the Surfrider Foundation, through 1% for the Planet. In September, the Cali Bamboo team went a step further when we joined Surfrider’s 16th annual Paddle for Clean Water at the Ocean Beach Pier, the West Coast’s longest pier, here in San Diego.

The Paddle for Clean Water is an annual non competitive event that consists of hundreds of local beach goers paddling around the Ocean Beach Pier on surfboards to raise awareness of coastline pollution and change attitudes and behaviors. If you missed this event or are in another part of the country, log onto www.surfrider.com to learn how you can participate in clean water initiatives in your own community with a local Surfrider chapter.

Your Friends,

::Sometimes Being Green is Easy::
Green is our favorite color, and at Cali Bamboo we strive to keep the planet green for future generations. That’s why we recently made a $24K donation to 1% for the Planet (www.onepercentfortheplanet.org). Our contribution will benefit the National Surfrider Foundation and San Diego Coastkeeper in their efforts to prevent pollution and maintain a healthy marine environment and Rainforest Relief and Amazon Watch which seek to protect the rainforests. You can learn more about these organizations at www.surfrider.org, www.sdbaykeeper.org, www.rainforestrelief.org and www.amazonwatch.org. As a San Diego-based company with lot of surfers on staff, Cali Bamboo is passionate about beach habitats and clean water for the planet.  We do more than give money to the cause; our employees volunteer in beach clean-up efforts.  You’ll hear more about our experience in upcoming newsletters.

::Using Bamboo Makes a Difference::
Donating 1 percent of the company’s sales revenue to environmental causes is one way we make a difference. When you choose our products, you help us have an even greater positive impact on the planet. As consumers, you really can save the planet with each purchasing decision you make. Cali Bamboo was formed specifically to provide eco-conscious consumers with a green alternative that is a terrific product by any standards. Strong, attractive, durable, and adaptable to a wide range of applications, bamboo is nature’s miracle plant!

All our bamboo products — from fencing to flooring to plywood to accessories — are sustainable. Unlike traditional hardwood forestry, harvesting bamboo doesn’t harm or hurt the environment or habitats.

::Regeneration for Future Generations::
Bamboo is one of the most remarkable organisms on the planet, something Eastern civilizations have known for millennia. Bamboo’s regenerative properties are the reasons it’s such a responsible choice for building materials or home accessories.Some bamboo species grow four feet in 24 hours! Once harvested, a bamboo forest can be renewed in as little as three years, compared to half a century- 50 years – for traditional forests. All the while bamboo produces oxygen and consumes carbon dioxide at a higher rate than trees, and its root system remains in place after harvesting and during regeneration, preventing soil erosion.

By some calculations, mass planting of bamboo around the planet could actually reverse the effects of global warming in just 6 years, providing a renewable source of food, building material, and soil erosion prevention all at the same time.

::Staying in Touch with Green Shoots::
With the launch of the first Green Shoots, we thank you, our customers, for playing your part in saving the planet and hope you enjoy our newsletter.

Your Friends,