Charley Younge, a true pioneer in the field of bamboo products, passed away this week (May 17, 2015). For four decades, Charley invigorated the sustainable building industry, as an enthusiastic promoter and advocate for bamboo, and a successful innovator who branded bamboo as a modern material.

Charley Younge is regarded as the pioneer of modern bamboo decorating products in Europe. As early as the 1970s, Younge was actively engaged with bamboo and earned an international reputation for his knowledge about the bamboo plant, its development and its versatility. Younge will also be remembered for founding the Dutch Bamboo Information Center (BIC), which has been largely responsible for bamboo’s widespread success in Europe.

In 1993, Younge began selling bamboo flooring in Europe under the trademark of PLYBOO® which he himself developed. Three years earlier, the first bamboo flooring in Europe had already been laid. That flooring remains to this day, and to their full satisfaction, in the home of the Younge family in Schellinkhout, Netherlands.

Charley lives on in our memory, in our hearts, and in bamboo floors, countertops and kitchenwares across Europe and around the world. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

Thanks to Susanne Lucas, one of North America’s greatest bamboo advocates, for the factual details of this article.

Onward bamboo soldiers

Take a look at some of these other articles to learn about more bamboo activities and activists around the world.