Page 22 - Green Builder July-August 2018 Issue

COURTESY OF CALI BAMBOO
Grand illusion. Cali Bamboo’s proprietary fossilization process
turns eucalyptus flooring into a product that looks just like
“real” hardwood, but is more durable and easier to maintain.
Cali Bamboo

his manufacturer maintains a high, educational pro le.

Cali Bamboo manufactures and promotes the use of sustainable Channel’s Hotel Impossible, to name a few.
building materials as viable alternatives to traditional wood- The company returns the favor. It regularly donates to community
based products. The company (www.calibamboo.com) specializes nonpro‹ts, sometimes in unorthodox ways: In 2016, Cali Bamboo
in composite decking made of reclaimed wood ber and sponsored a Green Against the Machine benefit concert that
recycled plastic, eucalyptus ooring and engineered hardwood raised more than $10,000 for local charities. That morphed into
ooring made with a sustainable wood core. Cali Bamboo is the Endless Summer Session in 2017, which raised $20,000 more.
headquartered in San Diego and has distribution centers in Los “This isn’t just about making a quality product—although that
Angeles, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Hawaii. certainly helps,” Cali Bamboo President and CEO Doug Jackson notes
on the company’s website. “Cali is in this very unique position where,
ONVENTIONAL HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS and services despite our omnichannel reach today, we have spent almost 14 years
have never been on Cali Bamboo’s agenda. The company’s fostering a close relationship with our customers. That relationship
founders, Je‚ Goldberg and Tanner Haigwood, didn’t enables us to anticipate needs and trends faster, and keeps their
even plan to go into the business of turning bamboo into satisfaction at the forefront of everything we do.”
C furniture. That epiphany came in 2003, when the two men
took up part-time work in Hawaii chopping bamboo to help pay for
a year-long sur‹ng trip. They’re an Eco-Leader because...
Bamboo, they realized, is the fastest-growing plant on Earth and
■ In its 14-year history, Cali Bamboo’s promotion of sustainable building
is rapidly renewable. It can be
continuously re-harvested every “I see Cali Bamboo doing materials has saved more than 1 million trees by using renewable materials
three to ‹ve years without damage today what a lot of people instead of traditional lumber, kept more than 50 million pounds of CO2
out of the atmosphere, and saved more than 21,000 acres of habitat by
to the plant or its surrounding in the industry are trying to diverting logging in natural forests.
ecosystem. It could also help ■ Recent green product lines include TruOrganics, a composite decking that
reduce global warming and save do. thin we are leading combines reclaimed wood fiber with recycled HDPE plastic to create a
animal habitat loss—the No. 1 this fantastic industry into decking product that never has to be sanded, sealed or stained; GeoWood,
cause for extinction. its future, and it’s very which layers sustainable bamboo over a limestone composite core to
Fast-forward to 2018, when Cali create an easily installed, maintained and budget-friendly flooring; and a
Bamboo made Inc.’s list of 5,000 exciting to be on the front recently launched a line of sustainably made area rugs, woven out of highly
Fastest Growing Companies for a side of that. renewable jute fiber, upcycled fabric from the garment industry, and PET
10th straight year. Attribute much oug ac son, and yarn made out of recycled drinking bottles.
of that growth to television, which president, Cali Bamboo ■ Cali Bamboo is an active sponsor of environmental non-profits such
is the company’s best friend. Cali as the Surfrider Foundation, to which it donates thousands of dollars each
Bamboo’s products have appeared on Extreme Makeover: Home year to support the organization in its protection of the world’s oceans,
Edition, MTV’s Real World, DIY Network’s House Crashers, The waves and beaches.
Vanilla Ice Project, Animal Planet’s Treehouse Masters, and the Travel

20 GREEN BUILDER July/August 2018 www.greenbuildermedia.com

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