We have deep admiration for the good work of 3rd Millennium Alliance. bambu was first introduced to Jerry Toth and his team through our association with 1% For The Planet three years ago. We have since been a keen supporter of their work. They are focused on one of the most ecologically diverse, but also endangered regions on the planet.

The Third Millennium Alliance approach appeals to us. They are there…on the ground, and they are working directly with the local communities in Ecuador. It is an approach we prescribe to as the most effective way to create positive change and an enduring business model. They are working to protect the local habitat and build sustainable local economies. A double win.

We have had several conversations with Jerry and his team about how bamboo, a plentiful and renewable local crop, can be a positive factor in their efforts.

YOU’RE INVITED to the world premiere of “The Last Rainforest of Coastal Ecuador,” a short documentary film about their development project.
Wonderfully filmed in one of the most beautiful environments on earth.

The film was produced by Third Millennium Alliance in collaboration with Conservation International and the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment. The film is 35 minutes long. The party will last longer.

Please show your support.

Wed. Sept. 8th at 7pm
Brooklyn Ecopolis Sustainable Resource Center
180 Smith St. 2nd Floor (corner of Warren St.)
Cobble Hill
F and G train to Bergen St., walk 2 blocks

We have posted their short video on the bambu Facebook page

The upcoming International Food Bloggers Conference could just have easily been called the Love Food Conference. Bringing together people who love to create good food, love to write about good food, and love to photograph good food. And talk about good food, and of course, eat and enjoy good food.

300 chefs, speakers, writers, photographers, bloggers, foodies, ‘tech savvys,’ all come together for the 2nd Annual International Food Bloggers Conference in what has become a highly anticipated event. And what better city than Seattle, and what better place, than Theo Chocolate to host this ‘coming together’ of food enthusiasts.

IFBC is the brain child and is orchestrated by those wonderful folks at Foodista.

IFBC = Food + Writing + Technology…..and this year, bambu joins in!

bambu loves food too, and our products provide an ideal canvas for carefully prepared and creatively presented food. And since sustainability and modern cuisine are key themes of this event, it was a natural that we would partner up with Foodista and the IFBC. Our Certified Organic, Compostable bamboo  All Occasion Veneerware® plates and utensils are the equipment of choice for the Saturday’s event.

Among the scheduled events will be, James Oseland, Editor-in-Chief of Saveur, as the keynote speaker for this event.

Other scheduled events include:

* The Art of Recipe Writing
* Food Writing with All Five Senses
* Law and Ethics in Blogging
* Digital Food Photography

We will be on hand to share our range of food preparation and and serving products – all made from renewable materials, and produced responsibly.

For the Love of Food. It’s all about creating and sharing stories, building community, and celebrating good food. We’re thrilled to be a partner in this event.

food bloggers unite

The Plank at Boqueria, New York

Good friend and creative mind, Beth Ronsick checked in, and spotted our long favored ‘long board,’ The Plank, at Soho eatery, Boqueria is a hip bistro in Soho on Spring Street. Check out the 100+ rave reviews from Yelp here

In the words of one reviewer, OH MY GOD, IT’S GOOD! (her all caps, not ours!) Nice to know our products are being used to serve such savory and wonderfuly appreciated food.

Definitely making a stop here on the next visit to New York. And not because they use our products.

Thanks Beth.

expose the threats to the environment and find creative, positive ways to tackle them.

The Greenpeace UK has taken a particularly creative approach to sending out a serious message. It is a good reminder about effective ways in which to get your message heard.

This a favorite among the team at bambu. A wonderful ad produced by Greenpeace and starring the great E. Izzard. It is a few years old, but it deserves resurrecting. It is a great piece of film directed brilliantly. The story gets to the heart of the matter without ‘guilting’ the viewer. It speaks to the seriousness of the state of the planet, yet does it in a humorous tone and suggests the ways we can change and the things we can do. Buy Renewables is one of them. It is a message that deserves repeating. We like the blue bits.

The link is here….http://youtu.be/XLBDmhsDY3k

The “Take Your Own Path” event is part of the Dell Women’s Entrepreneur Network, and elite gathering of female executives on the verge of breaking through to the next level.

This the first global event of its kind focusing on medium sized businesses.

Speakers include Elaine Chang of Intel China, Huang Hung of China Interactive Media Group, Kay Koplovitz of USA Network, Geraldine Laybourne of Oxygen Media, Cindy Gallop of IfWeRanTheWorld, Maria Pinelli of Ernst & Young, Sabine Irrgang of GoFresh.com, Belinda Parmor of Lady Geek, Yue-Sai Kan, Chairman of L’Oreal China, Michelle Garnaut of M on the Bund.
Rachel Speth, cofounder of bambu, is participating in a panel focused on operating in emerging markets. This panel will discuss strategies for growth for medium-sized enterprises, and the role of for-profit businesses in social responsibility, including creating sustainable, measurable improvement in quality of life in surrounding communities.

Others on the panel include:
Jessie Paul, Author “No Money Marketing: From Upstart to Big Brand on a Budget”
Amit Midha, President, Dell Greater China
Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, EVP and Artistic Director, OPI Products, Inc.

Rachel was previously honored with ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ in 2007′ awarded by the Women’s Expat Professional Society in Shanghai.

We caught of glimpse of Karen’s ‘art’ as she was zooming through clarklewis keeping patrons happy during a Friday afternoon lunch in Portland a few weeks ago. clarklewis is the woodsy modern bistro that we have been trying to get to for years each trip back to Portland, Oregon. It was a wonderful lunch in an open and airy, semi-industrial space.

Karen’s magnificent tattoo caught our eye and we just had to stop her mid-tracks for a closer look.
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It was great meeting Karen. She told us the artistry was done by the folks at The Parlour, a self-described ‘cruelty free/vegan friendly’ hair and tattoo parlour. Cool with us. It is Portland, after all.

We told her about bambu, and presented her with her own bambu Spork which she is ‘modeling’ here.

On the other coast, an ambitious blending of architecture, performance, and sculpture atop the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art by two brothers.

We were first tipped off to the Starn brothers when they constructed a similar piece in their Brooklyn studio.

They tell their story here..

The New York Times writes a full story of their most recent project here. Big Bambu involves the work and high balance work of several climbers and is a work of art that is constantly changing.

Check out this 3D rendering of their installation. Go to their website for more images.

There is more on this project and other works on their Facebook page.

The other cool part is that the The Beastie Boys,

‘You Can’t, You Don’t, and You Won’t Stop’

provides the music inspiration for this project.

The installation is ever changing and runs through October. We’ll be sure to check it out when we visit New York in August.

Eyes wide open……

Stuart Haygarth is an artist we have been watching with admiration. His art consists of chandeliers made of washed up trash, to coffee tables made of broken rearview mirrors.

Stuart Haygarth isn’t just trash talking here. He creates beauty from trash. Or Trash into Treasure.

Wallpaper* has assembled a wonderful slideshow of the pieces on display at the Haunch of Venison gallery in London.

Above: ‘Millennium,’ a chandelier made of hundreds of discarded party poppers.

‘Disposable,’ is made of over 400 disposable champagne flutes:

One of our favorite pieces is entitled Tides. It is made of hundreds of pieces of plastic junk which washed ashore near his home in England.

Here is a detail of his piece, Tides

bambu introduced a our Bamboo Pebbles this year to a great response. Our Pebbles are made from the excess bamboo material of our cutting and serving pieces. Waste into Value. Our Bamboo Pebbles have just been awarded a Design Award from the Homeworld Business magazine & International Housewares Association.

Thank you Stuart, for your Inspiring work.

(Via Fast Company.)

We were really pleased to learn that these were the guys who were producing the 1% film.1% For The Planet. Since finding out about this project, Jake Whitcomb and I have been emailing each other. It is soon to release and will highlight

The power of 1. The power of many.

Check out the trailer. It shows clips of our home base in beautiful Portland, Oregon, bicycles, kids, The Oregon Country Fair (I think) and businesses. Terry Kellogg talks briefly about creating a global movement.

And here is a sweet clip of a recent Jack Johnson at Red Rocks, Colorado (the most spectacular venue to see a show). Jack was member #51 and a big influence for us. bambu is member #151.

We’re looking forward to viewing and sharing the film and building the ‘give back’ to the planet community.

Our previous blog post here we introduced the Forever Wild Day held by the Adirondack Council. The event was held to great success hosting 260 people (the largest group ever) to a lunch honoring the Adirondack Nature Conservancy. The group has been instrumental in protecting and restoring the area.

Naturally, the lunch event was served on ‘green’ tableware. Our All Occasion Veneerware, along with Carrie, and the great folks over at 7th Generation. BTW – Jeffrey Hollender, CEO, uh, strike that, until recently, CEO, now Executive Chairman and Co-Founder writes a worthwhile and passionate blog entitled The Inspired Protagonist. It’s worth a read. You can find it here.

The great part of the event happened after the event. All the “green” tableware was gathered up and delivered to Van Alstine’s commercial composting facility. Closed loop. The way it is supposed to work. Thanks to everyone who put together a great ‘green’ event.

shameless gratuitous sexy product shot

The Adironacks is an important environmental preserve in New York. It is a special place that is aptly described below…..

“Taking one’s breath away is not the point of the Adirondacks –
instead it’s a place to breathe normally, fully, deeply, calmly, in
a territory that looks like the world once looked.”

Bill McKibben from the forward to Gary Randorf’s The Adirondacks: Wild Island of Hope

THe focus on the Adirondack Council is to focus on core wilderness areas and keep intact, functioning natural communities with a full array of native fauna and flora. We applaud their approach in connecting with working farms of the Champlain Valley, and working in concert with the forests community.

Adirondack Council will be hosting Forever WIld Day on July 11th to honor The Adirondack Nature Conservancy for protecting over half a million acres of land in the Adirondack Park since 1971.

bambu is proud to join others on this day, including The North Face UBS, Green Mountain Coffee, and other companies in sponsoring this important event.

Contact the Adirondack Council for more information. Or better yet, Pack a backpack, and head up to the valley. Take in some of that wonderfulness that Bill McKibben speaks about.