Is bamboo the green material of the future, or not? Bamboo is the largest member of the grass family. It is one of the fastest growing “woody” plants in the world. There are different types of bamboo, but the most used one is called giant bamboo. It can grow in most places in the world except those areas of extreme cold or extreme drought (Bamboo Grove). It is a very useful material for many different animals, for example building for humans or eating for pandas. It is the main source of food for pandas living in areas of the world such as Chengdu in China. Bamboo is also very useful for humans. Bamboo currently has a variety of uses around the world that vary greatly based on location. In Asia it is used as scaffolding and almost everything else, for example as food. In the United States and many European countries it is used more for clothing, flooring and bicycle materials. In the bamboo bicycle industry, the Calfee company is known for its high-end bicycles. They claim that bamboo frames are equally stable compared to carbon fiber frames, while maintaining the vibration dampening effect (Calfee). While Calfee makes thousand-dollar bamboo bikes, it has a sub-brand that makes cheaper bikes for third-world countries. The sub-brand that makes the cheapest bikes will also go to third world countries and teach people how to make the bikes themselves. Bamboo is probably used to its full potential especially in Asia. In China, all large-scale construction projects use bamboo as scaffolding instead of metal. This is done due to the abundance of bamboo in most regions of China (Bess). Bamboo is also eaten by Chinese wildlife, such as pandas and some types of bamboo rats. Others are... half of the document... national, 2001. 101-06. Print.Binkley, Christina. “Dismantling Bamboo-Couture.” Wall Street Journal. November 13, 2009: Researcher on W.3.SIRS issues. Network. 06 May. 2014.Hopler, Whitney. "Renewable Resources - Bamboo - Uses - Miracle Plant." About.com Angels and miracles. Information, 2014. Web. 05 May 2014.Koepke-Hill, Becky, Greg Armel, Bill Klingeman, Susan Hamilton, and Shawn Askew."Bamboo." UT extension. University of Tennessee, 2009. Web. May 5, 2014."Origin of Bamboo." , Uses and sustainability. Bamboo Grove, 2008. Web. 05 May 2014.Schröder, Stéphane. "Uses of Bamboo." Guadua bamboo. Bamboo Guadua, nd Web. 05 May 2014. The American Bamboo Society. Statement on the invasiveness and control of bamboo.Bamboo. TheAmerican Bamboo Society, Summer 2008. Web. 6 May 2014. Wong, K.M. “Current and Potential Uses of Bamboo in Malaysia.” J. Amer, nd Web. 5 May2014.