Are Bamboo greeting cards eco-friendly?

If you are researching a more sustainable greeting cards, we are here to help. Discover the answer to the question, are bamboo greeting cards eco-friendly? While there are lots of things that influence environmental impact, bamboo has an excellent sustainability track record, and that’s why we love it! It’s a renewable and strong resource for all products, including eco-friendly greeting cards. Here’s what we know about bamboo greeting cards and what makes them eco-friendly.

Why are bamboo cards more eco-friendly

Bamboo forests are the home of the Pandas of Panda Joy®™. Bamboo has been farmed in Asia for thousands of years. It’s a robust, resilient, renewable material used for countless things, from buildings to clothing and, of course, our cute, eco-friendly greeting cards. There are many reasons why bamboo is a more eco-friendly material and a sustainable option for greeting cards.

Tree Free

Using bamboo for greeting cards makes it a tree-free option which is more eco-friendly. However, cards made from traditional wood pulps have two significant issues, which make them less than ideal for the planet. Firstly, many virgin wood pulp papers require heavy processing to use for card, which can negatively impact the environment. In addition, a plastic coating is often used, producing greenhouse gases and making these papers non-recyclable or, at the very least hard to recycle. Cards made from trees also often need to be bleached heavily. Both bleach and plastic coatings can contaminate water, damaging ecosystems, which is a big no-no for us!

Secondly, we should stop felling new trees for items such as greeting cards. Forests are precious, providing homes to plants and animals of all kinds, not just pandas! Trees also hold on to lots of carbon and reduce soil erosion. If we chop them down, we will speed up climate breakdown. This makes bamboo greeting cards eco-friendly compared to traditional cards by being tree free.

Fast Growing

Another comparison to traditional papers from hardwood trees is that bamboo grows much quicker. In fact, can you believe that some varieties of bamboo can grow more than one meter per day? This makes it the fastest-growing plant on the planet! WOW! A pine tree takes, on average, 30 years to grow and be ready for use. In comparison, bamboo is ready after just 3-4 years. This makes bamboo greeting cards eco-friendly because we can replace the materials much more quickly than trees.

Carbon Sink and Oxygen Producers

Another fantastic benefit of using bamboo over hardwoods and softwoods is its ability to capture carbon and produce oxygen. Bamboo captures more Co2 than traditional young forests, four times as much. It also means it produces 35% more oxygen. So, it will keep carbon sequestered in the soil and the plant and put oxygen into the air. Each planted hectare of bamboo can naturally subtract 1000 tons of CO2. At the same time, we can obtain 20 cubic meters of material every year. This benefit is expanded further because when you cut bamboo, it can still regrow.

On the other hand, trees often will not regrow once the trunk has been cut. So, not only does it make bamboo a renewable material, but it also maintains carbon in the soil. We think that’s pretty awesome!

Prevents soil erosion

Another environmental benefit of bamboo forests is their ability to stop soil erosion. The clump-like nature of bamboo and its vertical root system ensures that soil stays in place. Reducing soil erosion can protect against droughts, stabilise riverbanks and reduce the risk of landslides. This ensures that biodiversity is saved in the area. Plus, it also protects our human friends from the impacts of natural disasters.

Potential Cons of Bamboo

Consumers, retailers and manufacturers must always balance bamboo greeting cards’ eco-friendly benefits against potential issues. For example, if natural ecosystems are being converted to solely bamboo plantations, our Pandas could lose their homes. While bamboo is Panda's number one meal, many plants are needed for our forest friends and us to feel at home.

All wild forests benefit biodiversity, sequester carbon dioxide, and manage environmental changes. Bamboo should be regrown on established bamboo groves or added to places that have suffered deforestation. While bamboo does not need much help, some farms use toxic pesticides and fertilisers to boost production. These should be avoided because they can make animals unwell and kill beneficial bugs and bacteria. Yikes!

Whilst bamboo is a renewable resource with many eco-friendly benefits; it’s often the processing and transportation that causes issues. A product’s whole lifecycle needs to be thought about when choosing an eco-friendly product. There is no one solution to the climate crisis, but developing alternative materials can help.

Bamboo Greeting Cards from Panda Joy®™

Are our bamboo greeting cards eco-friendly? Yes, we like to think so. Our greeting cards utilise 75% bamboo and 25% cotton linters. We chose bamboo because of all the excellent environmental benefits and because it’s home to the pandas of Panda Joy®™. It’s a much more eco-friendly option than traditional wood pulp cards and uses no plastic, bleaching or toxic chemicals. Our panda card designs feature cute creations of pandas. We hope you love bamboo as much as we do!