A sustainable application of bamboo

Underwear and straws, garden furniture and toothbrushes, more and more products are made of bamboo. It’s a promising resource, which can absorb a lot of CO2 and grows quickly. However, a lot of bamboo is still imported from Asia. Would it be possible to grow bamboo in a sustainable and transparent way in Europe? The ArtEZ Tactical Design professorship researches the possibilities of bamboo produced in Europe — from seed to garden furniture.

Within the large-scale sustainability experiment Bamboo Europe, the research group — together with BambooLogic in Portugal, the Nederlands Openluchtmuseum, Wageningen University & Research, various companies and designers, and students and teachers from ArtEZ — is investigating the creation of a sustainable value chain.

Application for interiors and textiles

Three ArtEZ researchers are involved in the project: professor Jeroen van den Eijnde and teacher and researchers Tjeerd Veenhoven and Michelle Baggerman. Van den Eijnde en Veenhoven are mainly concerned with the trans-disciplinary research process for developing a sustainable chain for interior products based on bamboo grown in Europe. Baggerman is involved in researching the possibilities of using European bamboo fibers for sustainable textile applications.

Why this particular research at an art academy? Van den Eijnde has a clear answer:

It is especially designers — and therefore our students — who in the design process ultimately determine whether their ideas can be made, (re)used and recycled in a sustainable way.

Together with students

For this reason, ArtEZ students from the Product Design course, are also participating in the sustainable research project. They will work towards test prototypes of bamboo-based outdoor furniture which will be tested in practice. After all, a working end product that can withstand various outdoor situation would mean the ideal outcome of a functioning value chain!

Photo: Bamboo Europe