How eco-friendly is bamboo flooring?

Bamboo gets a lot of attention as a green product, and it’s not bad, but it’s not necessarily all that it’s cracked up to be, either. Its reputation is that it’s harder than wood, although most products are comparable to the hardest wood floors and some are a bit softer – so bamboo flooring does need care and can get dinged up just like wood floor. 

Eco advantages of bamboo

• It is a rapidly renewable material.  As an incredibly fast growing grass, bamboo replenishes itself and is harvestable in as little as 3 years (some manufacturer wait at least 5 years for quality), and is thus rapidly renewable.  This is because to harvest, bamboo is cut, leaving the root structure intact for the plant to regenerate.  Contrast this to the wood that has historically been used – which take 25 to 50 years to reach maturity (or even 120 years for some hardwoods) and can’t regrow after being harvested.
• This same root structure holds soil together, making bamboo a great plant for areas with soil erosion problems.
• It has a high level of biomass, stores considerably more (4 times according to some websites) CO2 than similar trees, and according to Lucy Siegle, bamboo “releases 35 per cent more oxygen than the equivalent amount of trees.”
• Darker colours are achieved through carbonization, thereby minimizing harmful dyes.
• It is possible to get FSC certified bamboo.

Eco disadvantages of bamboo

• Urea formaldehyde (UF) resins are typically used which emit volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are harmful to indoor air quality.  However, ”bamboo flooring uses a relatively small amount compared with other materials, such as particleboards” (BuildingGreen.com). Floating floors will off-gas higher amounts of VOCs due to greater use of adhesives.
• Mostly Chinese-made, “manufacturers use potentially toxic binders, finishes, and other chemicals; create lots of solid waste; and run equipment that may be dangerous and polluting” (BuildingGreen.com).
• Some colours (including metallic finishes) are the result of toxic dyes.
• Bamboo has high transportation miles, being harvested and manufactured in Asia, and then transported to Europe and America.  However, transportation by ocean freight is considerably more efficient than by land.  Thus BuildingGreen.com claims that (at least for North America), “the transportation energy of a Chinese bamboo flooring product may be comparable to a domestic hardwood flooring product.”

Eco ambiguities of bamboo

There is conflicting information from these two respected sources in regards to land use and pesticides/fertilizers:

• BuildingGreen.com states: “The bamboo species most often used to make flooring…matures in three years; is self-regenerating; and uses little or no fertilizers and pesticides. Chemical use is more common on plantations where edible shoots are grown.”
• Treehugger states: “it is clear that bamboo is not necessarily being managed in a sustainable fashion….forests are being cleared to grow it and it is becoming a monoculture. Although it is claimed that fertilizers are not necessary, in fact they are being used to increase yield.”

The risk to pandas has also been cited:

• Most sources I’ve read are aligned with this BuildingGreen.com statement: “Most bamboo flooring available in the North American market is made in Hunan Province in southern China with bamboo harvested from natural and plantation groves there. (Pandas, which live at much higher elevations, don’t eat this kind of bamboo.)”
• However, Lucy Siegle states: “Out of 1,600 bamboo species, commercial growers focus on just 38 of the fastest growing, leading to the spectre of more monocultures. The World Conservation Union’s Red List of endangered species includes 27 species of woody bamboo, including that preferred by giant pandas and west African mountain gorillas.”

Confused yet? 

Here’s what I would suggest

• Consider your use:  In higher moisture applications (e.g., kitchens), vertical (cross-cut) grain solid bamboo (as opposed to horizontal/flat grain that shows the bamboo’s nodes) and engineered products offer more stability.  In high traffic areas, choose the natural colour over caramelized, which can be up to 20% softer due to the carbonizing process used to create the colour.
• Consider where you live. Since the UK isn’t huge and so overland transport miles aren’t great, most of the transportation miles will be by ocean freighter.  In the USA (particularly where I used to live in Minnesota, which was about as far away from a major port as possible – ok, yes, there’s Duluth, but how much bamboo comes through Duluth?) requires many more overland miles.  Regardless, it might make more sense to source a locally grown and processed, and FSC certified, hard wood instead.
• If it’s important to you to buy locally, that does pretty much rule out bamboo.
• For indoor air quality reasons, seek bamboo made with (and installed with) low- or no-VOC adhesives to minimize off-gassing.
• The best eco-friendly colour options are ‘natural’ and the carbonized ‘caramel’ colour.  Avoid coloured bamboo (especially metallics).
• Solid planks have an eco advantage over engineered planks, which are combined with a less rapidly renewable wood (typically pine) as a substrate.
• Purchase from a quality supplier – the bamboo market has been flooded and it can be a case of you get what you pay for.
• If possible, select FSC certified bamboo from a manufacturer meeting ISO 9001 standards.

Sources: 

• “Bamboo Flooring”  Product News from BuildingGreen.com
• “Bamboo Flooring – Is it Really Treehugger Green?”  by Lloyd Alter, Treehugger.com
• “Is it OK to steal food from pandas?” by Lucy Siegle, Guardian.co.uk

Photo by uhltank.