Bamboo on the Internet for April, 2015 (and May)

A very late Bamboo on the Internet, but with some very fine excuses. Really. Some of them may even be translated into posts for this blog.

• Two more items for a bamboo WTF category: Bamboo water. Yes. Water infused with an extract from bamboo leaves. Variously described with words like, “clean, fresh, bright, energising, sweet…” the creator has chosen to add cane sugar, unfortunately. Learn more here.  The second, and more perplexing bamboo product is Gucci’s Bamboo Fragrance. Presumably named for the bamboo shaped lid, not the top notes of bergamont.

• The bamboo furniture seen at the left is simplicity personified. Follow the link for a gallery of 14 more images.

• I know how handy bamboo skewers are for fixing/supporting/balancing/holding, even though I’ve never used them as skewers. This model of the Eiffel Tower used over 200 of them.

• Bamboo fences are very popular in northern NSW, where I was earlier this year, but how about a bamboo fence 11 kilometers long? Its part of a competition to promote the use of bamboo fences in Sabah.

• More gorgeous, practical, and innovative ideas from Giant Grass, in Melbourne. It may be just the thing if you want to be an airbnb host and don’t have that extra room for guests. The pod is transportable and easy to set up with only 2 people.

• Bamboo charcoal is now a trendy go-to ingredient for cocktails, according to The Drinks Business.

• The Vietnam pavilion for the 2015 Milan Expo features a ‘forest’ of bamboo-clad columns. More images and a story at arch daily.

• Here is a lovely, and short, story about a Buddhist monk in Vietnam who saves rare bamboo species.

• The Huffington Post recently published a photoblog featuring colourful bamboo and paper umbrellas.

• Some food items of interest over the last two months include: a bamboo shoot and squid flavored with green leaf-bud miso dish from Asahi Shimbun; a recipe for pickled bamboo from a new book reviewed here; and, I was going to include a video called ‘bamboo cooking‘ but it turned out to be only a very poor interview to promote the bamboo water mentioned above. It’s so dreadful, it’s almost worth watching.

Bamboo on the Internet for November, 2014 – my picks

It’s a slim month for things bamboo on the Internet that really grabbed my attention. There are, however a few things of interest,

• …like bamboo wind turbines. With developing nations in mind, engineers at the University of Vermont have designed a micro energy harvesting system. Incorporating a deep-cycle battery, the mini wind turbines can generate enough power to run LED lights and charge small devices like mobile phones.

• In case you were wondering how to make the Japanese black burgers that were seen all over social media recently, here is a pictorial guide. You can buy powdered bamboo charcoal if you don’t want to crush your own.

• Bamboo features again in another vegan product. Techly reviewed these gorgeous-looking $1,300 headphones very favourably. They are leather-free, so I guess that’s the vegan bit. If $1,300 has you choking on your egg-free carrot cake, you could look for some used ones. Although they don’t seem to be the vegan version. [Disclaimer: I’m quite fond of pork with my bamboo shoots.]

• Just plain weird department: 21 porcelain dolls on bamboo stakes in an Alabama swamp. (Read more here)

Bear Creek Swamp is a massive bog with a bit of a reputation locally. As a rite of passage, generations of teenagers have entered the area at night looking for creatures and haints said to roam the mist-covered realm. And it’s not unusual to hear reports of loud booms coming from its depths.

• Big news for bamboo growers in the state of Maharashtra, north-eastern India. A new policy was approved  that removes the forest department restrictions on cutting and transport of specified bamboo species from private plantations. The implications are huge for employment potential. More here.

Takesumi – bamboo charcoal

Continuing with the Japan focus from the previous post, this post revisits bamboo charcoal with a particular focus on health. Takesumi is derived from carbonised bamboo and demonstrates the same remarkable adsorptive qualities. As a nutritional supplement takesumi is generally ingested for its detoxification properties, especially after exposure to environmental contaminates.

Claims are made that bamboo charcoal:

• has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties;
• emits far infrared rays (to improve circulation) and negative ions;
• protects the body from EMF’s emitted by the electrical devices we surround ourselves with;
• is a natural source of macro and trace minerals;
• is alkalizing; and,
• adsorbs myco and endotoxins, and radiation.

The adsorptive qualities of takesumi that provide the detox benefits are also exploited for extending the life of fresh produce and purifying drinking water. Healthy living blog, Japanese Wall also suggests that takesumi can “make wine more fragrant whilst removing its tartness, and also make tea tastier by reducing the acidity.”

Takesumi-Power Bali recommends that her followers put some pieces of takesami in the water when cooking rice. “It will absorb chlorine, bad odor and toxic substances from water [and] the taste of the rice will be something you have never experienced before.” If the image is true, it won’t make your rice black. If you don’t find that appealing, there’s always takesumi candy, takesumi coffee, tea, or takesumi crackers (if you’re in Japan and can read Kanji).

The charcoal kiln at I’m Home B&B

Researching takesumi online also unearthed a rather idyllic looking B&B in New Zealand that makes takesumi. The Kyoto-expat owners describe takesumi as “mysterious bamboo charcoal.” The B&B property has its own charcoal kiln and they produce a very interesting-looking range of takesumi products, including powdered bamboo charcoal and bamboo leaf charcoal. Another use for bamboo charcoal that they suggest is as a dietary supplement for animals.

An Amazon search for takesumi yielded mostly fountain pen ink, and it’s not even clear if the black is from bamboo charcoal. Do you have a friend in Japan?

References and further reading:

• Supreme Nutritional Products
• Japanese Wall
• Takesumi-Power Bali
• I’m Home, B&B
• Fibro Haven

Bamboo on the Internet for September, 2014 – my picks

• With bamboo shoot season getting closer in the southern hemisphere, here is a timely reminder to seek out new bamboo shoot recipes. The original caption tells us that this dish hails from the north eastern states of India. The recipe for this bamboo shoot stir is here.

• Who could resist a black burger? Images of the Japanese Burger King wonders were all over the Internet this month. Black buns, black cheese, black ketchup. Its here because the black buns are bamboo charcoal bread.

• Bamboo bicycles are becoming more popular. I haven’t posted any here before because of their apparent ubiquity, but the DIY version looks really interesting.

• This was one of the bamboo sculptures at the Brisbane Festival this year: Brisbane Airport Light Garden, a collaboration between Tony Assness and Cave Urban. Cave Urban are now calling for expressions of interest to volunteer for the 2014/2015 Woodford Folk Festival project, “Woven Cloud”. Details, and more stunning images, are on their website. Last years project, a bamboo tunnel, was featured here.

• BOO! is a show by French trapeze artists, CirkVOSTA using a 15 metre high mobile bamboo structure. Click here for a short but mesmerizing YouTube clip of a practice session. Or watch the longer 5 minute vid of the show. Read more here.

• Popularity can be problematic. In Burma’s northern Shan State, the forests are disappearing. Villagers seek out bamboo shoots to smoke-dry and sell to Chinese traders.  The pressures on the environment are two-fold: the foragers are taking potentially unsustainable numbers of bamboo shoots and, huge amounts of timber are needed to feed the smokehouse fires. Full story and video clip here.

• Bamboo memory foam pillows. They’re new to me. The claims are marvellous: life span of 10 years; dust mite resistant; hypoallergenic; anti-microbial; and, machine washable.

Bamboo compost bin

After the inspirational  and motivational inaugural Bamboo Sculpture Competition in Mullumbimby recently, I got to thinking about how to use bamboo to age my current compost bin contents. I trawled through endless Google images seeking my simple solution. And it really was simple. The image to the left is what I based my compost aging bin on.

The original inspiration – simplicity itself

My version, replete with compost

First I set some bamboo stakes in a square to guide my stack and keep it more or less square. Then, I harvested several small culms of obvious age. The design I had in mind only had small gaps between the rails, so the compost would stay inside. The harvested culms were then sawed to length, and I started stacking – with a bit of tie-wire here and there to hold things together as I went. I’m rather pleased with the result.

My research also took me further. I was surprised to discover some very sexy bamboo compost bins (pails, for some) – the ones that live in your kitchen, before the contents make the trip to the outside bin. The research also provided another revelation – bamboo charcoal deodorisers for compost bins. (I lead a sheltered life). Who leaves their compost in the kitchen that long?

Activated Bamboo Carbon

“Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal, activated coal, or carbo activatus, is a form of carbon processed to have small, low-volume pores that increase the surface area available for adsorption.” 

Hmmm, so? Bamboo is just one material used to make activated carbon. Activated carbon has special qualities over plain old charcoal. Adsorption is the key here. Adsorption is the binding of molecules or particles to a surface, as distinguished from absorption, the filling of pores in a solid. Activating carbon gives it high degree of microporosity, increasing the surface area so just one gram of activated carbon has a surface area in excess of 500 m².

Activated carbon has many industrial applications, but probably the best known use is medical. The adsorptive qualities can treat some poisonings and overdoses. It’s so important that it appears on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines. For everyday personal use the list of activated bamboo charcoal is extensive: odours, soap, humidity, water filtration, baking, face masks, indigestion, toothpaste, insoles for shoes….

The list of products online is long. The most popular products seem to be the air freshening/odour absorbing ones. There is range that comes wrapped in hemp bags – much more attractive than the plain black bag I picked up at the Bamboo Festival. There are some pretty ones though, as well as some disguised as dogs. Maybe stuffed dogs in the back windows of cars are really there for a purpose?

The most interesting looking product, I think, is the food-grade powder. Or maybe the tooth and gum powder. With the powder on hand, you could make your bamboo charcoal soap, use it to make bamboo charcoal bread, treat indigestion and certain poisoning events, or whatever you can think of.

In case you are wondering, activated carbon is usually made from charcoal and, increasingly, high-porosity biochar, both of which can be produced with mature bamboo. Two different processes may be used: physical reactivation and chemical activation. There is a Wikipedia entry that explains the processes.

Reference list:
Activated carbon
Adsorption

Bamboo vinegar

Japanese bamboo vinegar

When bamboo is heated at very high temperature in an airless vessel, it becomes charcoal.  The vapour that comes off the heated bamboo is condensed to produce a liquid known as bamboo vinegar. Bamboo vinegar is produced in Japan and is used to treat eczema, atopic dermatitis, and other skin diseases, often by just adding it to bath water. Bamboo vinegar is acknowledged as an anti-inflammatory and anti-fungal, but not as a salad dressing.

In Japan, bamboo vinegar is recognised as having many health benefits; eliminating foot odour, softening the skin, relieving itching and insect bites and improve blood circulation. Diluted, it’s also used as a skin toner and hair conditioner.

In the West, bamboo vinegar is more commonly seen in form of foot detox pads. The pads are applied to the feet overnight. Bamboo vinegar detox pads score quite highly in the Amazon customer reviews. One purchaser said they felt 5 years younger the morning after a night with detox pads stuck on the feet. Another found his allergies reduced. Numerous reviewers commented on both the foul smell of the pads and the colour of pads in the morning.

One of the claims made by manufacturers of bamboo vinegar detox pads is that the pads will turn a brown colour overnight and this is an indication that the detox pads are drawing out toxins through your feet. Indeed, numerous Amazon reviewers commented on the brown gunk they found on the detox pads the morning and were duly impressed by the efficacy of the product.

There is an article on Mercola about bamboo vinegar detox pads. A reporter used the detox pads overnight and then took the resulting gunky brown pads to a laboratory for analysis. The results established that the chemical analysis of the used pads was almost identical to the new ones. The brown gunk appears whether the pad draws moisture from a person’s foot or is held over the steam of pot of boiling water.

In its original form, medicinal bamboo vinegar was fermented for nine years. The sales script for the detox pads does not specify the age of the bamboo vinegar used for the pads. Still, the comments on Amazon make interesting reading. I do like the sound of the bamboo vinegar soap though.

Bamboo on the Internet for October – my picks

Art

Photo credit: WoodTV.com

This stunning sculpture kicks off the October bamboo on the Internet list. It’s made from bamboo and string. More photos at the artists Facebook page.

Personal

Bamboo gets very personal with these products:

• Washable handmade bamboo tampons on Etsy
  
• Underwear for space
• Bamboo toilet paper – same price as the regular stuff, and softer

Furniture (or art?)

Photo credit: http://www.designboom.com

This beautiful bamboo chair is named flow. It was created at Scope design studio in Taiwan. I’m glad I don’t have to clean it though. Follow the link to see the more practical set of nesting stools, (not made from bamboo) and more.

Mac accessories

Photo credit: Grovemade.com

I’m almost tempted to ditch Android for Mac just to make use of the range of bamboo accessories available. Two came to my attention this month: a roll-top iPad cover and a wonderfully minimalist docking station for an iPhone. These would go well with Bamboola’s bamboo iPhone cover.

Art installation

Wang Wen-Chih’s “The Light of Shodoshima”

If you’re lucky enough to get to the Woodford Folk Festival this year, you’ll be able to enter the amphitheatre through a 300 metre woven bamboo tunnel. The tunnel is this years special project. In collaboration with Cave Urban, it will be created by Taiwanese sculptor Wang Wen–Chih and team of volunteers. See more of Wang Wen-Chih’s work here. His installation, The Light of Shodoshima, pictured, is one of the many outdoor installations for this years Setouchi Triennale.

Sustainable outdoor cooking fuel

Bamboo charcoal for your barbecue? A start-up in the US is nearly ready to tap into the more than 80 percent of US households that own a barbecue grill. Hot Bambu is one of many Kickstarter projects. Have a look at the table below to see why you should be using bamboo charcoal.

COMPARE THE COALS

	HOT Bambú Lump Charcoal		Wood Lump Charcoal		Briquette Charcoal
	∞ Contains 100% natural bamboo charcoal ∞ Sustainable grilling from a rapidly renewable resource ∞ Does not contribute to deforestation ∞ Processed in a respectful and environmentally friendly way ∞ Burns clean with little smoke		• Contains trees cut from primary forest, plywood, pine (soft wood), and treated flooring scraps • Contributes to illegal logging and green house gas emissions • Creates mass soil erosion and devastation of natural habitat		x Contains ignite coal and sulfur, sodium nitrate (gun powder), limestone, starch, borax (fertilizer), charred sawdust, and toxic solvents that are confirmed to cause kidney and brain damage x Gives food the taste of fossil fuel

Bamboo on the Internet for October 2017 – my picks

Photo credit: WoodTV.com

This stunning sculpture kicks off the October bamboo on the Internet list. It’s made from bamboo and string. More photos at the artists Facebook page.

Personal

Bamboo gets very personal with these products:

• Washable handmade bamboo tampons on Etsy
  
• Underwear for space
• Bamboo toilet paper – same price as the regular stuff, and softer

Furniture (or art?)

Photo credit: http://www.designboom.com

This beautiful bamboo chair is named flow. It was created at Scope design studio in Taiwan. I’m glad I don’t have to clean it though. Follow the link to see the more practical set of nesting stools, (not made from bamboo) and more.

Mac accessories

Photo credit: Grovemade.com

I’m almost tempted to ditch Android for Mac just to make use of the range of bamboo accessories available. Two came to my attention this month: a roll-top iPad cover and a wonderfully minimalist docking station for an iPhone. These would go well with Bamboola’s bamboo iPhone cover (or any bamboo iPhone cover).

Art installation

Wang Wen-Chih’s “The Light of Shodoshima”

If you’re lucky enough to get to the Woodford Folk Festival this year, you’ll be able to enter the amphitheatre through a 300 metre woven bamboo tunnel. The tunnel is this years special project. In collaboration with Cave Urban, it will be created by Taiwanese sculptor Wang Wen–Chih and team of volunteers. See more of Wang Wen-Chih’s work here. His installation, The Light of Shodoshima, pictured, is one of the many outdoor installations for this years Setouchi Triennale.

Sustainable outdoor cooking fuel

Bamboo charcoal for your barbecue? A start-up in the US is nearly ready to tap into the more than 80 percent of US households that own a barbecue grill. Hot Bambu is one of many Kickstarter projects. Have a look at the table below to see why you should be using bamboo charcoal.

COMPARE THE COALS

	HOT Bambú Lump Charcoal		Wood Lump Charcoal		Briquette Charcoal
	∞ Contains 100% natural bamboo charcoal ∞ Sustainable grilling from a rapidly renewable resource ∞ Does not contribute to deforestation ∞ Processed in a respectful and environmentally friendly way ∞ Burns clean with little smoke		• Contains trees cut from primary forest, plywood, pine (soft wood), and treated flooring scraps • Contributes to illegal logging and green house gas emissions • Creates mass soil erosion and devastation of natural habitat		x Contains ignite coal and sulfur, sodium nitrate (gun powder), limestone, starch, borax (fertilizer), charred sawdust, and toxic solvents that are confirmed to cause kidney and brain damage x Gives food the taste of fossil fuel