Materials

Bamboo

Bamboo is the fastest growing plant on the planet, growing up to a metre per day. The Chinese have a saying that the only way to control its spread is to eat the shoots. Bamboo is also incredibly strong, with a tensile strength greater that that of steel. There is a 300 metre long suspension bridge in South China which hangs from bamboo cables fastened over a canyon; it does not have a single metal nail, screw or bolt in its construction.

Panda bears do not eat the species of bamboo which are used to make our products, so our production does not in any way affect this endangered species.

Banana

The banana, believed to have originated from the jungles of Asia, is generally mistaken for a tree, but is actually the world's largest herb. Their main stem can reach a height of up to 8 metres, though it is not actually formed of wood, but the tightly coiled leaves of the plant. Our banana coffins are made using these dried leaves after the tree has produced its fruit and the stem is cut back each year.

Pandanus

Pandanus or wild pineapple is an environmentally friendly alternative to seagrass. Seagrass is an aquatic plant which grows in shallow coastal waters and provides shelter for many species of nursery fish. When this is harvested, the habitat is destroyed and the fish are endangered. Pandanus, on the other hand, is a prolific and rapidly growing weed which thrives anywhere on land, even in adverse conditions. When woven it is almost indistinguishable from seagrass.

European Willow

Our European willow products are hand made to our own design by a co-operative of cottage industries in Poland. The willow is a deciduous shrub found primarily on moist soil in cold and temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere. Almost all European willows take root very readily from cuttings or even where broken branches lie on the ground.

English Willow

Willow has been grown in England on the Somerset Levels for many centuries and has the ability to regenerate repeatedly from the same “crown” of the plant for up to 40 years. Willow colour variations are achieved naturally by drying, boiling or stripping the bark.