Debating bamboo paper and safer hardwood floor wax.

Is bamboo really an environmentally friendly alternative to wood for making paper?--Ali Forte, via e-mail

Bamboo is a fast-growing and renewable resource, and it has long been used throughout Asia as a raw material for many goods, including paper. With North America's supply of forests dwindling, bamboo is starting to look like a viable alternative. It has a similar consistency to wood pulp, and existing paper mills can adapt to it with existing infrastructure.

On the other hand, clearing forests to establish bamboo

plantations across the globe hardly makes environmental sense. Aaron Lehmer of ReThink Paper, a project of Earth Island Institute, calls the rapid expansion of bamboo plantations in Southeast Asia "alarming." Most of this bamboo is feeding paper mills in China and India, says Lehmer, but increasing demand from North America and Europe could deplete existing supplies and force Southeast Asian producers to push deeper into the forests. This would deplete primary habitat for hundreds of threatened species of birds, mammals (including bamboo-dependent pandas), reptiles and amphibians. "Since there are no international standards or certification mechanisms in place for bamboo, neither paper producers nor consumers have any way of knowing whether the bamboo they purchase is coming from endangered ecosystems," he adds.

According to the World Bamboo Organization, a trade group, 12 million acres of bamboo reserves exist across Asia today. If demand for bamboo were to increase, Lehmer says, surely the environment in these areas would suffer. Indeed, environmentalists in India are already crying foul over government-subsidized bamboo extraction from that country's supposedly protected forests, including the world-renowned Nagarjunasagar Tiger Reserve.

ReThink Paper would prefer to see North American paper producers convert existing mills to process locally generated agricultural waste, such as wheat or rice straw, which farmers otherwise have no market for.

The debate over papermaking reminds us that modern society has yet to go "paperless" as has been regularly predicted. Still, everyone can do their part at home, school and work to reduce paper usage, even if it's only one sheet at a time. CONTACT: ReThink Paper, www.rethinkpaper.org; World Bamboo Organization, www.world-bamboo.org.

What are some green-friendly hardwood floor waxes I can use in my home?--Pat Montgomery, Phoenix, AZ

Most of us spend about 90 percent of our time indoors, so minimizing the use of harmful chemicals in our homes, offices and schools is important. However, proper maintenance of most types of flooring requires the occasional waxing to protect the finish. Among the worst offenders commonly found in mainstream floor waxes is cresol, which can cause liver and kidney damage if inhaled over extended periods of time. Formaldehyde, which has been linked to everything from asthma to reproductive problems to cancer, is alp so a key floor wax ingredient that should be avoided whenever possible. Some other hazardous ingredients in traditional floor waxes are nitrobenzene, perchloroethylene, phenol, toluene and xylene.

Luckily for the eco-conscious, a number of forward-thinking companies are manufacturing less-toxic floor waxes. Seattle's Environmental Home Center recommends BioShield's all-natural Furniture and Floor Hardwax for wood floors. The beeswax, carnauba wax and natural resin paste formula produces a dirt- and dust-resistant coat without harsh chemicals. Eco-House, based in New Brunswick, Canada, b manufactures a product for wood floors called #300 Carnauba Floor Wax. It contains beeswax, carnauba wax, linseed oil, rosemary oil, a mild citrus-based thinner and natural resins.

Another option for wood, cork or open-pored stone floors is BILO floor wax from the German company Livos. BILO is made from natural, organic ingredients and is available online from the Green Home Environmental Store. For the do-it-yourself crowd, the online "Guide to Less-Toxic Products" (from the Environmental Health Association of Nova Scotia) suggests concocting your own all-natural wood floor wax by warming up a combination of olive oil, vodka, beeswax and carnauba wax. Once the concoction is allowed to harden, it can be rubbed directly into wood floors with rags. For more detailed instructions, visit the association's website (www.lesstoxicguide.ca). CONTACT: BioShield, www.bio shieldpaint.com; Environmental Home Center, www.environmentalhomecenter.com; Green Home Environmental Store, www.greenhome.com.

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