Packaging needs to pull its weight as a product protector, especially with products ordered on the Internet. Bamboo is an emerging option that offers strength and sustainability.

Internet sales create their own set of challenges for brand managers. One of them is getting the product, undamaged, from the point of distribution and into the consumer’s hands. Success requires that package shippers pull their weight, but another wrinkle has been added. More consumers are demanding that shipping materials be environmentally friendly.

Bamboo is beginning to gain traction as a packaging material, with Dell the latest to announce the use of the material in package cushioning in shipping computers. Bamboo is sustainable, it grows fast, its strength is good for product protection, and it helps promote healthy soil.

Dell tells China View that its bamboo originates from a forest in China’s Jiangxi Province, and that the company has found it to be a viable material in packaging.

Bamboo’s tensile strength has been compared to that of steel, making it worth a look for its product-protection ability for a variety of packaging. It could interest brand managers as well; damaged products that arrive in the consumer’s hands erode brand equity.