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Thomas Edison's first successful incandescent lamp (light bulb) used a filament
made of carbonized bamboo. It was patented in 1880. This light bulb still burns
today in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC.
Thomas Edison also used bamboo as rebar for the reinforcement of his
swimming pool. To this day, the pool has never leaked.
Alexander Graham Bell used bamboo for the first phonograph needle.
Bamboo survived the atomic bomb at Hiroshima and provided the first re-greening after the blast in
1945.
With a tensile strength superior to mild steel (withstands up to 52,000 pounds of pressure psi) and a
weight-to-strength ratio surpassing that of graphite, bamboo is the strongest growing woody plant on
earth. There is a suspension bridge in China 250 yards long, 9 foot wide and rests entirely on
bamboo cables fastened over the water. It doesn't have a single nail or piece of iron in it. Used in
ladders, scaffolding and construction, bamboo is twice as stable as oak, walnut and teak.
Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on this planet and provides the best canopy for the greening of
degraded lands. (Some species of Bamboo grow as much as 4 feet a day). Its stands release 35%
more oxygen than equivalent stands of trees. Bamboo can also lower light intensity and protects
against ultraviolet rays.
Bamboo has thousands of uses including airplane "skins", aphrodisiacs, blinds, brushes, crafts,
desalination filters, diesel fuel, fly-fishing poles, flooring, food, furniture, medicine, musical
instruments, ornaments, paper, rope, scaffolding, umbrellas, walking sticks, wind chimes and many,
many, more.
Bamboo is harvested and replenished with no impact to the environment. It can be selectively
harvested annually and is capable of complete regeneration without need to replant. Bamboo is an
enduring natural resource and provides income, food, and housing to over 2.2 billion people
worldwide.
For more interesting reading about the versatility of bamboo, see Nature's Miracle Material.
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