About me:
I am Khamlec or (ALEX) an artisan and the brainchild of the owner and products designer of AQUA DE BAMBOO from my own experience.
I studies and lived in Switzerland for over 6 years.
After I came back home I worked as a German and Swiss German-speaking tour-guide.
I got this idea while I was traveling around and met up with people involved in the travel industry, foreign affairs as well as import and export businesses that were trying to reduce or eliminate the use of plastic.
I was inspired by what I saw and learned, so I decided to do something beneficial that would make use of natural material found in Laos.
In Laos, we have over 45 types of Bamboos, easy to grow naturally, especially in the north and south of the country.
Sustainability
It is very important to use these products to reduce the consumption of single-use plastic items and we have to educate people about the urgent need to cut our use of plastic, especially in our throw-away culture.
Our mission is to help local communities to use their existing knowledge to create high-quality products.
This will allow them to create sustainable businesses and provide a much-needed income source while also keeping traditional methods alive.
Some people are prepared to take this matter seriously and change their ways, but most people aren’t interested in. It can only work if people make an effort and introduce change in their daily life, we can turn things around if we start right now.
The Bio Bamboo bottle was my first found products. My main retail outlet is in Luangprabang including the morning market, several coffee shops, and hotels.
Which season of the year to harvest Bamboo and why?
Good Bamboo can be harvested only twice a year, in January or February but the perfect time is after the end of the rainy season in September and October as the bamboo contains the right amount of water.
We can use the Bamboo from two years old because anything younger won’t be strong enough and more mature wood is too firm and can’t be processed properly from my self-experience.
With whom are we working with?
Currently, we are working with the local communities to produce accessories for our drinking vessels.
Our long term goal is to set up the design, production, and sale of bamboo thermos flasks, mugs, and beer glasses.
I have looked at the type of processing methods that would be accepted by overseas markets.
We also bought stainless steel from European countries with which to line the interior and which had a periodic performance review (PPR) quality guarantee as well.