Here's why bamboo plants are called 'green gold'

Bamboo is among the most sustainable natural resources, able to give us our basic needs of food, clothing, and shelter.

The grass or poles are used as construction materials, which are then made into houses or nipa huts. Other products like toothbrushes, straws, tumblers have also been made with bamboo, which have become quite popular these days. 

Bamboo has also been turned into clothing items, while its shoots have been used in food and drinks.

At the 23rd "Learn & Earn from Bamboo Experts" seminar at Carolina Bamboo Garden in Antipolo City, we learned bamboo is also a sustainable investment.

It grows quickly when planted, even in small residential areas, and more would grow immediately when harvested.

Carolina Gozon-Jimenez, founder and owner of the Carolina Bamboo Garden, said it best: The possibilities with bamboo are "endless, I'm telling you."

“It’s just in the technology, we have to know it,” Jimenez told GMA Network reporters ahead of the seminar. 

“The latest that I found out, yun palang vest ng mga police, pwede kasi it is bulletproof,” she added. “Bulletproof engineered bamboo, may gumagawa na.”

She added that bamboo is used even for aeronautics and ships as boards when done with the right engineering because "parang steel," she said, pointing to a bamboo's natural tensile strength.

There's even a gin made of black bamboo that has proven to be a big export, she added.

Actually, parang tawag nila ‘green gold,’ Jimenez said. “We call it sustainable."

Unlike wood that needs 10 years of tending and care after cutting, "bamboo, [in] four years, it is matured. So you can cut it and make it into products.”

She added, “Yung kinut mo na yon, tutubuan ulit yon ng mga shoots, so hindi ka na mawawalan ng bamboo. Isang tanim lang, ang dami mo nang pakikinabang. At the same time, marami kang matututunan at marami kang magiging products, marami kang magiging pera.”

[Bamboo shoots will grow where you cut it, so you will never run out of bamboo. Just one plant will yield you a lot — of knowledge, a lot of products, which equates to profitability.]

But there's to more to bamboo than creating products. Bamboo helps reduce soil erosion, which in turn could also help in climate change adaptation and mitigation.  

Another would be bamboo’s importance in things like soil erosion. “Ang daming namamatay na binabaha sila. Aba, magtanim ka ng bamboo doon sa mga eroded places. Yung mga ugat ng bamboos, matibay. Siya ang magbibigay ng parang [meat] doon sa mga lupa na yan so hindi siya mag-e-erode," Jimenez said.

Meanwhile the World Resources Institute says, when land is degraded, "it can support fewer plants that can take in climate-warming carbon dioxide. Soils themselves could potentially sequester enough greenhouse gases in a year to equal about 5% of all annual human-made GHG emissions."   

Jimenez emphasized bamboo's role in improving air quality which helps with one’s health.

“Ako, galing sa ubo, pero sa Maynila yon,” she said. “Pero pag pumunta ako dito [sa Carolina Bamboo Garden], ang sasabihin ko sa inyo, talagang I can breathe more. Sa hapon paguwi ko, parang preskong-presko. Pati utak ko, masyadong maraming natatandaan.”

[I had cough in Manila. When I come here, I can really breathe more and better. When I go home, I feel refreshed. My mind is sharper.]

It is a timely reminder, especially after the smog incident last September that blanketed Metro Manila. According to experts, the smog actually came from vehicle emissions.  

The 23rd "Learn & Earn from Bamboo Experts" seminar was held on October 21, Saturday at the Carolina Bamboo Garden in Sitio Tanza II, Brgy. San Jose, Antipolo City.

It featured sessions that focused on the uses of bamboo, how to plant it, and how it can be maintained for as long as 40 years.

Experts like Dr. Aida B. Lapis, a retired Department of Environment and Natural Resources Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau Forest Scientist and Bamboo Taxonomist; Engr. Jovito A. Elec, Science Research Specialist II of the Department of Science and Technology Forest Products Research and Development Institute; Arch. Ray Villanueva, Co-Founder of Kawayan Collective; Edgardo C. De Guzman, Program Officer of the Landbank of the Philippines Programs Management Department, discussed the "Sulong Saka/High Value Crops Financing Program" gave insightful talks.

The seminar was attended by those from all walks of life, including landowners, LGU officials, employees of private companies, and many more. — LA, GMA Integrated News