Bamboo and Sugarcane

Bamboo and Sugarcane are grasses, not hardwoods. They both grow very quickly and, after harvest, grow back just as quickly. No replanting is necessary. Unlike trees, which can take up to 30 years to grow and mature, bamboo and sugarcane grow back as quickly as in three to four months. When a tree is cut, it never grows back. In addition, bamboo’s natural rhizome (root) network protects soil from erosion and retains moisture, and bamboo can grow in environments with depleted soil and little water. In fact, it actually returns nutrients to the soil; improving degraded areas. Bamboo doesn’t require fertilizers, insecticides or pesticides. Sugarcane is much like bamboo, but with an added environmental bonus. The “bagasse” – the dry fibrous residue that remains after the extraction of juice from the crushed stalks – is what we use to make our paper. Normally this bagasse is either disposed or burned, meaning we are re-purposing what would otherwise be discarded.

Our raw materials are sourced from Asia. Approximately one third of the world’s bamboo and most of the world’s fastest growing bamboo is found here.

8 Reasons Why Bamboo and Sugarcane Make Great Paper

Bamboo and sugarcane are excellent resources for the production of paper products. Here are our top 8 reasons why these plants make great paper.

#1. Soft –

Bamboo and sugarcane fibers used to make paper produce a very soft paper which is a lot softer than most recycled paper products.

# 2. Strong –

Bamboo and sugarcane fibers are very strong and therefore produce strong paper products.

#3. Biodegradable –

Bamboo and sugarcane fibers quickly dissolve back into the earth so it’s safe for all disposal systems.

#4. Rapidly Renewable and Sustainable –

Sugarcane and bamboo are grasses, not hardwoods and are some of the fastest growing grasses on earth. The average bamboo plant can grow up to 24 inches a day. Due to bamboo’s deep root system, replanting is not necessary. Once bamboo is cut, the stem is left and the bamboo can grow back in 3-4 months.

#5. Virgin Fibers –

Bamboo and sugarcane are virgin fibers so they don’t require heavy bleaching of inks and dyes as in recycled paper products.

#6. Save Trees –

About 27,000 trees daily are used to make toilet paper globally. That’s a lot of trees! Canada provides about 90% of the world’s pulp and approximately and most logging occurs in old growth, ancient and endangered forests. Bamboo and sugarcane can replace trees for pulp production and help to save trees and endangered forests.

#7. Reduce Soil Erosion –

Bamboo can grow in environments with depleted soil and little water and actually returns nutrients to the soil, improving degraded areas. Bamboo’s unique rhizome (root) system protects soil from erosion and retains moisture.

#8. Eco-friendly and Efficient –

Sugarcane bagasse – the dry, fibrous residue remaining after the extraction of juice from the crushed stalks of sugarcane – is an eco-friendly and renewable raw material. As a by-product of the sugar industry, bagasse is generally disposed of or burned after sugarcane is processed into sugar. Instead of disposing or burning bagasse, we can turn it into paper!

The process to convert our raw materials into paper involves a manufacturing model that prioritizes environmental impact. It is important to note, we are using virgin fibers that do not require intense cleaning or de-inking. For the bleaching process we use hydrogen peroxide as an alternative to chlorine bleach. During the entire manufacturing process our facility follows strict water recycling guidelines whereby 70 percent of the water used during all processes has to be recycled. We visit our manufacturing facility routinely to ensure we are well informed and up to date on processes and for ongoing quality control to ensure delivering a safe and sustainable product from the ground up to our customers. Overall our efforts to minimize the environmental impact during processing continue to be our key priority.

We believe that there are many potentially great alternatives to trees that should be researched further. Since bamboo and sugarcane are wood like grasses, their natural attributes allow minimal processing in order to convert from raw material into paper and one of the many reasons why we believe these renewable resources make such a great alternative to paper made from trees.

The key is that we are all talking about alternatives to one of the biggest catastrophes the world has experienced, and that’s deforestation.

In order for things to truly change, whether it be our products or another product, this is the first step in addressing this issue and may be the beginning of a revolution in this industry. We’re excited to be part of it.