Yearbook planning options in 2020 are endless! If you’re part of a yearbook team, you know how overwhelming making those choices can be. Beyond the tasks of layout and theme selection – which are a vast undertaking by themselves – there are tons of decisions yearbook editors need to make.

And, in addition to creating an aesthetically appealing book, it’s also important to consider how your yearbook will impact earth’s climate.

Wait. What? Why should you consider climate needs when designing a yearbook? Well, because in 2020, you can. 

To create a yearbook that will last for decades, use sustainable materials and processes that serve to support our planet’s future. Clean solutions that create little damage to the environment are available and, better yet, it’s easy to use them.

Okay. But how?

A simple way to keep your yearbook’s carbon footprint at a minimum is to select paper materials made from sustainable resources, like bamboo. Bamboo paper is perfect for those who want sustainable resource management to be part of their school’s legacy. 

Bamboo by itself is pretty amazing; it already does so much for our planet! How does it do that, you ask? Good question. Keep reading to learn seven amazing facts about bamboo that (we think) every yearbook planner needs to know.

Bamboo Grows Fast

Did you know that bamboo is the fastest growing plant on earth? Yep, that’s no joke. In fact, under the right conditions, bamboo can grow up to three feet in 24 hours! Paper made from bamboo is a sustainable option because it grows faster than trees.

What does that mean for yearbook advisors and staff?

Bamboo’s high growth rate means more raw material is produced in less time than it takes to produce the same amount from trees. Choosing bamboo paper for a yearbook means trees are not being cut down to create it, and the bamboo that’s harvested will grow back quickly.

Bamboo Restores Soil

In regions where the soil is depleted of nutrients, bamboo can help to restore the earth. Bamboo grows in thick clumps, or balls, which help keep the ground together. This produces a strong base that supports the bamboo plant and encourages stability in weak soil. Additionally, as leaves from the fast-growing plant fall away, they decompose. The decomposing bamboo leaves act as fertilizer, returning nutrients back into the soil.

In areas where over-farming has occurred, bamboo is a healthy option to heal the soil and recharge its nutrient stores. Bamboo paper consumption helps to support farming communities with limited options for crop variety.

Bamboo Prevents Erosion

The root system of the bamboo plant is amazingly strong! As bamboo grows, roots of the bamboo clump intertwine with the roots of other bamboo clumps to create an incredibly strong mesh-like root system.

Bamboo’s mesh-like root system is perfect for keeping erosion at bay.

Pandas Like It 

Most of us know how panda’s love to chow down on stalks of bamboo but, did you know bamboo is the only food panda bears eat? It sure is! Bamboo isn’t as nutritionally dense as other foods available, but panda bears seem to do just fine. They just have to eat 12 – 38 kg of the fast-growing grass every day!

Other animals that love to dine on bamboo are Mountain Gorillas and the lemurs of Madagascar, but they opt to eat different foods in addition to the leaves and stalks of bamboo. 

Bamboo Paper Saves Trees

Paper made from bamboo is a tree-free product. Zero trees are cut down when bamboo is the material of choice for making paper. Wood is considered a non-renewable resource by many; this means the rate of demand for timber exceeds the amount that can be grown back. Essentially, trees are being cut down faster than they can be regrown.

Bamboo products are key to helping preserve our current forests. How cool would it be to have a yearbook that looks great and helps the planet?

Bamboo Plants Produce Lots of Oxygen

All plants produce oxygen in exchange for our carbon dioxide, but did you know plants can produce varying amounts of oxygen? And, better yet, bamboo is an oxygen-producing super-hero. 

Imagine two football fields. One of the fields is a forest of trees, and the other is a bamboo farm. Which one would produce the most oxygen? Surprisingly, the answer is bamboo. In fact, the bamboo farm would actually produce 30% more oxygen than the same-sized forest! 

But, doesn’t that mean we shouldn’t use bamboo for things like yearbooks or houses? Good point. However, bamboo grows really fast, which means people can manage bamboo consumption and regrowth more easily than slow-growing wood and timber options.

Bamboo Prefers Being Organic

Bamboo contains a natural antimicrobial, called Kun, which fights off pests and diseases naturally. Bamboo Kun lessens the need for bamboo farmers to use pesticides as the plant is hardwired to defend itself. Supporting the bamboo paper industry also reduces the volume of pesticides released into the environment.

Are you ready to choose a sustainable paper for your yearbook? At Futurebook Yearbooks, we take sustainable resource management seriously. That’s why for every yearbook we sell, we replenish the earth by planting one tree. For more information on how you can plan an amazing yearbook, contact our team!