How Bamboo Charcoal Saved My Compost Pile (And My Relationship With My Neighbors)

How Bamboo Charcoal Saved My Compost Pile (And My Relationship With My Neighbors)

Last summer, my neighbor Janet stopped waving at me. Not a cold shoulder exactly — more of a pointed avoidance that only people who’ve lived next to each other for eight years can pull off with such surgical precision. The culprit? My compost pile. Specifically, the smell coming off my compost pile, which had apparently … Read more

Bamboo vs Coconut Shell Activated Charcoal: I Tested Both for 3 Months

Bamboo vs Coconut Shell Activated Charcoal: I Tested Both for 3 Months

NaturaLife Labs Activated Charcoal 1200mg – from Coconut Shells – 100 Veg Capsules — Non-GMO, gluten-free, and easy to find. A great baseline coconut charcoI want to tell you about the morning I accidentally turned my kitchen counter, my favorite…

Making Biochar From My Bamboo Prunings: A Surprisingly Fun Backyard Experiment

Making Biochar From My Bamboo Prunings: A Surprisingly Fun Backyard Experiment

I want you to picture this: me, standing in my backyard at dusk, covered head to toe in soot, holding a garden hose in one hand and a half-melted oven mitt in the other, while my neighbor Dave leaned over the fence with a look that said he was genuinely reconsidering our friendship. That was … Read more

Bamboo Charcoal for Humidity and Odors: I Tested Every Room in My House

Bamboo Charcoal for Humidity and Odors: I Tested Every Room in My House

I want to tell you about the day I confidently placed a single bamboo charcoal bag the size of a sandwich in my 400-square-foot basement — and then stood back with my arms crossed, fully expecting to smell fresh mountain air within the hour. Reader, I did not smell fresh mountain air. What I smelled … Read more

Bamboo Charcoal Toothpaste: I Used It Every Day for 30 Days — Here’s What Happened

Bamboo Charcoal Toothpaste: I Used It Every Day for 30 Days — Here's What Happened

I showed up to my own birthday dinner with a gray tongue. Not a little gray — I mean full Gandalf the Grey gray. My husband looked at me across the restaurant table, tilted his head, and whispered, “Honey, are you… feeling okay?” That was day three of my bamboo charcoal toothpaste review experiment, and … Read more

Grilling With Bamboo Charcoal: 15 BBQ Sessions and My Definitive Verdict

Grilling With Bamboo Charcoal: 15 BBQ Sessions and My Definitive Verdict

I set off the smoke alarm three times before I even put a single piece of food on the grill. That’s how my bamboo charcoal grilling journey began — standing in my backyard in an apron that said “Grill Sergeant,” waving a dish towel at my back door like I was surrendering to the neighbors. … Read more

Bamboo Charcoal Face Mask: The Skincare Discovery I Made by Burning My Lunch

Bamboo Charcoal Face Mask: The Skincare Discovery I Made by Burning My Lunch

I burned my lunch so badly last Tuesday that the smoke alarm went off, my neighbor knocked on the door to check if I was alive, and I ended up accidentally discovering my new favorite skincare routine. Let me explain. I’d been meaning to try a bamboo charcoal face mask for months after seeing them … Read more

Using Bamboo Activated Charcoal for Water Filtration: My 4-Month Home Experiment

Using Bamboo Activated Charcoal for Water Filtration: My 4-Month Home Experiment

I want to tell you about the day I proudly served my dinner guests what I was absolutely convinced was the purest, most beautifully filtered water they had ever tasted — only to watch my friend Karen hold her glass up to the light, squint, and ask, “Why is it… gray?” That was month one … Read more

Bamboo Charcoal Fixed My Terrible Clay Soil: A Skeptic’s Before and After

Bamboo Charcoal Fixed My Terrible Clay Soil: A Skeptic's Before and After

I almost cried in my backyard. Not a little misty-eyed moment — I mean full-on, hands-on-knees, what-have-I-done despair. I had just spent $600 on bare-root bamboo plants, dug out a 40-foot privacy screen planting bed by hand over three weekends, and watched every single one of those plants sit there, sulk, and slowly yellow into … Read more

I Bought and Tested 8 Bamboo Charcoal Air Purifying Bags: Honest 6-Month Results

I Bought and Tested 8 Bamboo Charcoal Air Purifying Bags: Honest 6-Month Results

I once put a bamboo charcoal air purifying bag in my car to deal with a mysterious smell — and then completely forgot about it for three weeks. When I finally found it, it had migrated under the seat, split open slightly, and left a fine dusting of black charcoal across my beige floor mat. … Read more