Ply-ing new trades
March 3, 2005
Plyboo (left) and plywood (right)
Laugh at the name if you want, but Plyboo claims to be a durable, strong, laminated bamboo alternative to traditional plywood harvested in a sustainable way.
Smith & Fong’s timber bamboo grows to a height of 40 feet with a diameter exceeding 6 inches and matures in 4 years without requiring replanting - a fairly rapidly renewable resource considering woods such as pine, spruce, fir, larch and others used in plywood manufacture reach similar maturation only after 12-15 years.
While the traditional timber industry is often seen as a heavyhanded and organization resistant to positive change, with the growing concern over usable timber with respect to size and age, sensible forestry practices are seeing a resurgence.