Bamboo, Baby!

Sharon Chai

Founder and Owner, Bamboobino

photo by Jaime Kowal

When Sharon Chai was a little girl in Malaysia, she named her favourite stuffed bear “Bambino.” Thirty-six years later (and married to an Italian), when it came time to brand her made-from-bamboo products for babies and toddlers, “Bamboobino” seemed as snug a fit as one of her little after-bath hats.
Mother to Elyjah, 5, and Indah, 2, Sharon equates having a new business with having a new baby ”without the sore nipples.“ “You lose sleep,” she says. “Every day brings challenges. You’re not really sure what you’re getting into—and you need to know when to turn off the business and spend uninterrupted time with your children.”

Bamboobino’s panda-themed product line is made from Moso bamboo—the kind used in furniture and chopsticks, and not the kind that pandas devour in the wild. A stand of bamboo, states the company’s website, takes in five times the volume of greenhouse gases that a stand of timber the same size does, while releasing 35 per cent more oxygen. Made into fabric, it’s soft, absorbent, antibacterial, and eco-friendly.

Sharon’s sustainability wake-up call came in ’96 when she was doing volunteer work in Guyana. Her experiences there shone new light on the old adage “charity begins at home.” “I was a new Canadian, and I’d never volunteered at home,” she recalls. When she returned to Canada, she volunteered with the Red Cross, UNICEF, and other organizations.

Now, as a busy “momtrepreneur,” Sharon is intent on setting a good example for her kids while growing her business. Coming soon is “Inda,” a plush panda toy named after the real Indah (but without the “H”), a portion of whose sales will go to local charities.

—Gayle Mavor