Defend The Eco-Trend: Bamboo

Sustainable Minimalists

Bleav + Stephanie Seferian

Kids & Family, Leisure, Parenting, Home & Garden

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 August 2022

⏱️ 26 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In eco-leaning circles, bamboo is hot, hot, hot. The grass (yep, it's a grass!) is touted as *the* solution to deforestation and these days bamboo is the main fiber in some paper products, textiles, bathroom necessities, furniture, flooring, and more. But as with any crop, there are plenty of problems associated with worldwide reliance on a monoculture. Are marketing claims that tout bamboo's benefits nothing more than next-level greenwashing? Today I put my guest in the hot seat and ask him the not so pie-in-the-sky questions about bamboo. Ryan Fritsch, co-founder of Cloud Paper, is on the show to make the case that bamboo is the best alternative to standing trees and is here to stay. Here's a preview: [4:45] 3 things you may not know about bamboo plantations, plus: the importance of relying on 3rd party certifications when assessing whether your bamboo product is actually eco-friendly [12:30] Understanding the different FSC tiers: Which certification should you be looking for? [14:00] Bamboo's sourcing concerns: If bamboo is so easy to grow, why are (almost) all of the world's bamboo plantations in Asia? [17:00] Are bamboo paper products better than ones made from recycled paper? What's the difference between pre- and post-consumer waste, anyway? Resources mentioned: Grove Collaborative trash bags -- Thank you to this week's sponsors! Ettitude: Use code SUSTAINABLE for 20% off bamboo bedding Thrive Market: Head to thrivemarket.com/sustainable for up to $80 in free groceries Better Help: Head to betterhelp.com/sustainable for 10% off your first month -- * Join our (free!) community here. * Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube. * Email me and say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com. Our Sponsors:* Thank you to LifeStraw! https://lifestraw.com/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/sustainable-minimalists/exclusive-content

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello listeners and welcome back my name is Stephanie Safarian and you're listening to
0:05.0	episode 295 of sustainable minimalist a twice weekly show about intentional and eco-minimalist
0:11.6	living on today's show we're discussing bamboo. Is bamboo as
0:16.0	eco-friendly as we'd like it to be? Bamboo has indeed been marketed to eco-leaning
0:22.3	consumers as the solution to a host of problems.
0:26.8	Deforestation being the biggest one.
0:29.3	And while there certainly are benefits to using bamboo in paper products for example as opposed to cutting down standing trees and while certainly there are benefits perhaps to using bamboo in place of fossil fuelsbased synthetics in clothing fibers.
0:44.7	There are also a host of environmental problems associated with hailing bamboo
0:49.6	as the solution to all of our planet's problems. This show kicks off a new series on the podcast. It is aptly
0:56.0	titled Defend the Eco Trend. This series will air whenever the stars align. On this series,
1:02.4	I play Bad Cop and I am so bad I am so mean
1:05.8	today I am asking the hard questions and my guest plays the role of defending the eco trends.
1:14.3	Today I'm speaking with Ryan Fritz.
1:16.4	He is the co-founder of Cloud Paper, a 100% bamboo toilet paper,
1:21.5	and Ryan is here in the hot seat to answer my really hard really mean questions.
1:27.1	Be sure to stick around to the outro of today's show because in the outro I am offering up five questions to ask yourself before you purchase anything bamboo.
1:37.6	So be sure to stick around for that Ryan so thrilled to talk to you today. I hope you're ready for this.
1:43.3	How are you? I'm great. Thanks for having me on the show. Thanks for coming on. You were on the show
1:48.2	today to defend bamboo and I wanted to have this conversation with you because Cloud Paper is a company that makes products made from bamboo.
1:59.0	Let's set the stage by talking about bamboo. I think we all know what it is, but what qualities
2:05.2	does bamboo have that makes it a wonderful tree alternative? Number one is, technically it's a grass.
2:14.5	It is one of, if not the fastest growing plant in the world.
	...

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