Why bamboo?

In Impact Gift, we approach sustainability as a marathon, not as a sprint. Whether the grand demonstrations can impact our life or not, what really matters is what we actually do. Our ideas drive our actions, or at least they give us motivation for us to be closer to the person we ought to be. And a person is not made up of what they once performed, but what they do from the moment in which they wake up until when they switch off the lights. Both during a day and a lifetime.

In this regard, we believe in the power of habits, not in the strength of monotony. We don’t need to be automated pilots of our life or heroes of our time. What we should do is turn negative habits into sustainable ones, in such a way that they are almost by default. This is why most of our products are substitutes of single-use items.

On the contrary, if we want to have a fully sustainable lifestyle, we would end up with nothing. We couldn’t buy a smartphone, given the ecological and humanitarian impact of the mines in Congo. Even second-hand shops involve logistic supply chains that don’t allow for a zero-waste purchase.

When you scratch a bit upon the surface, this world turns into a complicated and messy intricate. However, as Julius Caesar said, “divide et impera” – “divide and rule”. Big turnarounds are based on the compound effect of routinary changes.

Here in Impact Gift, we fully embrace this philosophy. This is one of the reasons why a couple of our products are made up with bamboo instead of plastic.

Bamboo has been lately regarded as an eco-friendly material, but as Heather Seely from Tamborasi explains, not everything is gold that glitters. According to their article, bamboo is the fastest growing plant on Earth, and it is even benefited from regular harvest. It doesn’t consume much resources either, while producing 20 times more material than a tree in the same portion of land. All of this while absorbing 5 times more CO2 than trees and generating 35% more O2. On top of that, in terms of the characteristics of bamboo as a material, it is stronger than steel and highly elastic while resistant.

However, we should also take into account this: “True, the material itself is much more eco-friendly than, say, plastic. But when it’s being planted at a rate or a scale that means that ecosystems are lost and communities are negatively impacted, it’s no longer as “green” as we once imagined.” This is mainly about chemical processed bamboo, which is present in most bamboo clothing brands.

Here are some of our products featuring this much-loved bamboo, which can give you an idea for making sustainable your next gift:

Bamboo Eco-Friendly Portable Cutlery

Eating outside is an opportunity to create your own safe environment, not an obligation to eat a sandwich or to use single-use easily breakable plastic cutlery. This kit includes all the necessary items you need for these situations, including a reusable toothpick for cleaning your teeth after enjoying your meal. Either for when going camping or eating in the park next to your office, this set gives you the chance to eat your best meals while lying in the grass, a grass that you contribute to healing when taking this eco-friendly option.

Eco-friendly Bamboo Toothbrush

Whenever it is not possible to turn single-use items into reusable items, we should use products made up of materials that are more respectful towards the environment. This is the case for toothbrushes. We are not going to stop using them, first of all, because of matters of health. What we can do is start using other toothbrushes that are made up of materials that heal the environment and our mouths.