Wood charcoal has been used for many centuries across the globe as fuel for cooking and industrial use, for water filtration and purification, and many other things.  Many Asian civilizations have used charcoal for medicinal and health living for centuries as well.  In Korea, it is very common to see “cham soot” or regular wood charcoal, throughout houses in decorative displays.  Koreans have long known about the benefits of having cham soot around the house – filtering odors and harmful chemicals out of the air, regulating humidity, blocking static electricity and electromagnetic waves, and releasing negative ions to improve relaxation.  However, traditionally cham soot is made from oak trees from old growth forests, so it is not sustainable from an environmental standpoint.

Borim’s founders decided to investigate the possibility of using bamboo to make charcoal.  Unlike old growth oak trees, bamboo is a much more renewable and sustainable plant.  Therefore it is much more environmentally friendly.   But in addition to being better for the environment, using bamboo for charcoal has another great benefit – its surface area to mass ratio is much higher than traditional cham soot.  While cham soot has a surface area to mass ratio of 200 square meters per gram, bamboo charcoal is three times higher at 600 square meters per gram!  This makes bamboo charcoal much better at collecting and holding harmful substances.

Borim produced their first successful batch of bamboo charcoal in 1995 and two years later opened for business.