Bamboo Room Dividers Are About Much More Than Privacy

Whether you’re interested in Japanoiserie, simply like the slim, sleek appeal of bamboo furniture, or just need a cost-effective way to add some extra privacy to your home or hide clutter, it seems like there are 101 reasons a bamboo room divider is a wise investment.

But it turns out, bamboo room dividers offer value you might not even have thought of. Here are all the things that make bamboo an amazingly versatile, eco-friendly, sustainable resource.

It’s Affordable

In terms of other sustainable resources like hardwoods, bamboo is much, much more affordable. It also only takes about 5 years to reach maturity (compared with 30 or 40 years or longer for some slow-growing hardwoods), keeping the costs down.

It’s Strong, Durable, and Long-Lasting

Bamboo has a similar tensile strength to aluminum and in some instances is even stronger than steel - despite being remarkably lightweight. It’s also lighter than most other popular hardwoods, such as oak, cherry, and walnut.

Bamboo is also flexible, which makes it useful for making load-bearing frames (such as for furniture). With proper care, bamboo furniture and accessories like room dividers will last longer than a lifetime.

Resists Swelling and Shrinking

Unlike many other hardwoods, bamboo does not readily absorb atmospheric moisture, which means it will not warp or twist as easily as many other forms of wood. It also won’t easily swell or shrink.

Versatile Appearance

While raw, natural bamboo has a pleasant, earthy, even minimal aesthetic, it is a very versatile material in terms of appearance. It can be finished in a wide range of colors and aesthetics to suit nearly any setting.

It’s Biodegradable

Not that you’d want to throw away such a beautiful bamboo room divider, but if furniture like this ever does end up in a landfill, you can rest easy: bamboo is 100% biodegradable and breaks down readily within 2 to 6 months under favorable conditions.

(Guess what: so is the shoji rice paper with which we make some of our room dividers. Shoji paper only takes a few weeks at most to break down!)

It’s a Carbon Sink

Everyone’s hot on the bandwagon to reduce carbon emissions and help curb rampant climate change. Good news: bamboo, in part due to its extremely rapid growth, is a highly effective carbon sink.

Bamboo rapidly accumulates and stores carbon. One study suggested that a 1-hectare plantation of bamboo would be capable of sequestering up to 306 tons of carbon over a 60-year period. Some estimates give bamboo a carbon drawdown rate that's over 10 times as fast as most other woody trees.

Compare this with a separate study that suggested a 1-hectare grove of trees would be capable of fixing somewhere between 4 and 40 tons of carbon per hectare per year - still pretty admirable - except bamboo grows more quickly - speaking of which…

…It Grows Fast

Unlike other popular sorts of hardwood that are used to make furniture and which take years and years to reach maturity, a vast amount of bamboo can be harvested within a five-year period, and the root systems of bamboo groves can sustain repeated heavy harvesting.

But how fast does bamboo grow? Well, some cultivars can grow nearly three feet per day! That’s over an inch per hour!

It also matures rapidly and the same root system can support repeat harvesting. In literally a fraction of the time it would take to grow other popular hardwoods, bamboo produces enough material to furnish an entire room.

It Consumes Relatively Few Resources

Cultivating bamboo is natural, it rarely requires replanting, and bamboo is easy to grow. Unlike other industrial processes that can pollute the environment (such as producing some polymers or metal alloys) bamboo is relatively clean.

It does require the consumption of water and fertilizer, but the resource draw is low, affordable, and practical given the high rate of harvest.

Bamboo harvesting also does not disturb the soil, and in fact, bamboo root systems help to counteract soil erosion.

And, not only is it less taxing on the environment, but bamboo is also sustainable and can be replenished year after year.

Don’t Stop at Bamboo Room Dividers!

We carry a wide range of bamboo room dividers, room dividers made with shoji rice paper, and panel room dividers in a wide range of sizes that are perfect for nearly any setting.

But you don’t need to limit your love of bamboo furniture to room dividers! There is a wide range of furniture out there made from bamboo, including but not limited to seating, sofas, chairs, tables, and much more. Some floor mats and even bed sheets are now made from bamboo or bamboo fibers.

It’s strong, lightweight, durable, versatile, affordable, environmentally friendly, sustainable, and a great carbon sink! Using bamboo can not only help you create a refined aesthetic for your home but help the environment!