Green is the new black — and bamboo is the new titanium. After years of churning out glossy, metal-finish, high-polish products, electronics companies are taking their design cues from nature — and trying to pick up the sheen of eco-friendliness — by wrapping their products in bamboo veneers.

Bamboo has become the "it" material for many gadget designers. PC maker Dell has launched its Studio Hybrid PC with the option of a bamboo case, while Asus offers a Bamboo series notebook. There are also bamboo speakers, a keyboard, mouse and USB hub available, all wearing the woody-stemmed grass.

"The use of authentic materials is a strong trend in product design right now," says Gadi Amit, principal designer and founder of product-design firm New Deal Design, which worked with Dell on its Studio

Hybrid PC.

The trend goes far beyond the PC industry, with many designers in other fields adopting the ostensibly eco-friendly material. Watchmaker Nixon has a modelwith a bamboo strap. Bikemaker Craig Calfee showed bicycles with bamboo frames at a recent show. Bamboo has even taken the clothing world by storm as one of the hottest textiles. It's used in everything from T-shirts and boxer shorts to high-end hotel bedsheets.

Bamboo is catching the attention of product designers in much the same way as titanium or fruit-colored translucent plastics did a few years ago. Bamboo is an easy way to send a message about the green credentials of a product, say industrial designers. It also appeals to people who want a very visible way to show they swing green — a visible complement to their Anya Hindmarch "I am not a plastic bag" bag and their Priuses.

But at least in the PC industry, the use of bamboo could be considered partly greenwashing, designers acknowledge. Despite its positive connotations, bamboo cases are usually optional — and even then are just an exterior veneer glued to a carbon-fiber or plastic body. "To some degree it is a gimmick or a shallow attempt," says Amit. "But it still signifies the emergence of a new aesthetic that is more rough, less polished and one that reconnects audience with the green movement."

Bamboo exteriors are just the most recent flourish PC manufacturers are using to try to signal their concern for the environment. Last year, Apple made a big splash with its redesigned Macbooks, carved from a solid aluminum block, which ostensibly eliminates waste. The new Macbooks also offer higher energy efficiency and are shipped in smaller, less-wasteful packaging. Dell has targetedincreasing power efficiency of PCs and recycling as part of its efforts.

Bamboo as a design material emerged from this movement. "At the moment bamboo carries positive connotations," says Paul Bradley, executive creative director for product-design firm Frog Design. "Its primary purpose is messaging, a way to communicate what's changed inside."

Today's use of bamboo in consumer electronics products is similar to how TVs were packaged in the 1950s and 1960s, with a wooden shell encasing the screen, says Bradley. "The original thought was that having a piece of technology in your living environment was disruptive," he says. Now as consumers make an attempt to go back to nature, they are looking for a similar design aesthetic.

Bradley says the bamboo trend in products will accelerate this year before manufacturers start pulling back.

Recognizing the superficiality of a "green" veneer, PC makers are quick to emphasize that their eco-friendly efforts are more than skin deep.

"The energy efficiency aspect is more critical than the bamboo parts," says Mark Solomon, principal designer at HP. "There are also changes to packaging that can help reduce wastage more than having bamboo in the design can."

New Deal Design's Amit agrees: "A lot of the work is done on the inside in reducing energy usage. The exterior bamboo is just to signify these, and it is important from a symbolism perspective."

There's also the question of the suitability of bamboo as a material in some of the products where it's being used. Plastic, for instance, is used in cellphones because it helps avoid interference with wireless antennas. Titanium appeals to bikers because it is strong yet lightweight. Bamboo is technology-neutral, says Solomon, and it is not easily molded. "It has structural constraints," he says.

Eventually the future of bamboo-coated gadgets will not lie with the green movement fans, says HP's Solomon. Instead, its continued use as a material may be driven by customization. A notebook with a bamboo case or a bamboo bike will be offered as one of the many "sleeves" or "skins" available for a product.

"It will be about personalization rather than a greener material," says Solomon.

See Also:

15 Awesome Wooden Computers [TreeHugger]