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How Green is Your Bamboo?
Keeping up with the Joneses used to mean buying the newest, most expensive car and parking it next to your immaculately-manicured lawn. Now it means getting a hybrid and building a compost bin.
But the idea of sustainable living – the basics of it – is not new. The hippies were doing it in the sixties, the bohemian kids kept it going through the seventies and eighties, and the nineties saw an influx of consciousness that has travelled through the changing of the decade. Now, earth consciousness is not just a movement for a few choice alternative kids; it’s a way of life.
Some of us thought that making sustainability “mainstream” would be a big hurdle, but its popularity grew overnight, featuring yoga and solar power, protests and tofu. Instead, the struggle has come down to one small part of the way we live: our beauty, and our aesthetics. The reality is that making enlightened choices has always been possible, but it hasn’t always been pretty. As global consciousness grows, however, the community of aesthetics – fashion, design, beauty, perfume – has had to use their creative teams for adapting to the “green trend:” creating beautiful, inventive clothing and textiles out of non-toxic, natural, and earth-friendly materials.
Many companies have turned to organic cotton, but others are using a different plant fiber: bamboo. It’s no surprise, as bamboo is one of the most ecologically useful plants in production: it grows up to four feet per day, takes less time to harvest than cotton, and is quite hardy. Once processed and weaved into clothing, it’s also incredibly soft. But how does this sturdy grass go from hard wood to soft fabric?
Well, that’s where the harmful chemicals come in.
Bamboo: The Good
Bamboo got its eco-friendly reputation because of its naturally human- and earth-friendly properties. Not only is it hardy and fast-growing, but it also does double duty as a major oxygen producer – way more than a forest of comparable size – and its huge root network prevents erosion, even after the stalks have been harvested. It doesn’t require pesticides or chemicals to grow (organic!), is naturally biodegradable, and its “forests” regenerate on their own, using that same erosion-avoiding network of roots to sprout new stalks whenever and wherever they’re removed. Using the right techniques, it can be used for flooring, furniture, decorative items and, of course, fabric.
When manufactured for clothing, bamboo becomes a powerhouse, boasting ecological, health and beauty benefits. It’s softer than most cottons, yet drapes so smoothly and elegantly that it can be used as a cheap alternative to silk. Bamboo is also hypoallergenic, and can even be anti-microbial, if it’s manufactured mechanically. It will resist the growth of odor-causing bacteria, making it a great choice for socks, exercise clothing, and anything else you could even think of sweating in (like a dress shirt at your annual performance review).
However, if bamboo isn’t mechanically produced, it can lose its hypoallergenic, bacteria-killing properties, as well as all of its claims of “eco-friendliness” and, in some cases, the right to even be called bamboo.
Bamboo: The Bad
That’s right: some companies use the “bamboo” label much like others use the “organic” label: to make money. It’s all part of a marketing ploy called greenwashing, and in this case, it can mean the difference between your skivvies being eco-friendly and eco-harmful.
There are two ways to process bamboo into fabric: mechanically and chemically. The mechanical process is pretty straightforward: the plant is crushed, and natural enzymes are added to break down the woody parts into a mushy compound. A machine “combs out” this compound so it can be spun into yarn. It’s a truly eco-friendly process, but it’s also labor-intensive and costs more than chemical processing does.
In chemical processing, the same bamboo is “cooked” in acid (among other things). The result isn’t an organic bamboo yarn, or even a remotely eco-friendly fabric. Instead, it’s called “regenerated cellulose fiber” or, more commonly, bamboo rayon.
Unlike its mechanically manufactured counterpart, this chemical bamboo fabric is soaked toxic chemicals, including lye, bleach, carbon disulfide and sulfuric acid, and “regenerated” into a fiber that can be woven into fabric. It’s a long, arduous process that not only harms the environment, but can cause serious health effects for the people that work to create the fabric:
- Breathing in low levels of carbon disulfide can cause headaches, tiredness, and even nerve damage.
- In animal testing, it also caused brain, liver, heart and fetal defects, which means a spill could destroy any wildlife and, potentially, human health and safety.
- Carbon disulfide has also been shown to cause neural disorders in those working in rayon manufacturing plants. (No studies are out in bamboo manufacturing plants specifically.)
- Even a low level exposure to sodium hydroxide (lye) can cause the skin and eyes to become irritated, making it difficult and likely more dangerous for workers to do their jobs.
- At higher levels, those exposed to sodium hydroxide have difficulty breathing, burns on the skin, necrosis, and severe burning in the eyes, ears, nose and throat.
Keep in mind that this process – all of these chemicals, all of these health risks – goes for cotton-based rayon, too. The difference is that, as of now, companies are required to list chemically-manufactured cotton as “rayon” or “cotton rayon,” so you can easily avoid them by looking at the label. However, there are still no laws that force companies to make the same kind of distinction for bamboo. Every time you buy bamboo fabric, you run the risk of getting a rayon blend instead – one that may be tainted by the chemicals that pollute our air and destroy health of the workers that created it.
What You Can Do
Until there are more stringent laws requiring companies to list the kind of bamboo their clothing is made of, it’s up to consumers to buy responsibly. It may seem like a daunting task – how do you know whether a company uses natural enzymes or harmful chemicals? – but there are a few ways to ensure that the bamboo you’re wearing has been produced ethically:
- Look for transparency. Many of the most eco-conscious companies are happy to share their sources, both for their raw materials and their manufacturing practices. Check websites and product descriptions: if they proudly list their mechanical manufacturing (or any other sustainable practices), choose to buy your bamboo from them (and share your findings with others).
- Choose “organically processed.” While some companies tout chemically-manufactured bamboo as “organic,” the smart ones will make sure you know that their products aren’t just organically grown, but also organically processed. Most won’t go into the details, but they will list their products in a way that alerts those in the know.
- Use Lyocell. Some manufacturing facilities have found other, more eco-friendly ways to chemically process bamboo in an attempt to eliminate the ecological hazards typical chemical processing can cause. They’ve modified the same process used to produce lyocell from wood cellulose to produce bamboo cellulose. The process uses chemicals that are non-toxic to humans and can be captured and recycled back into the system, so only trace amounts escape into the atmosphere. Look for the word “lyocell” or comparisons to TENCEL, a similarly-manufactured product, on the label.
- Look for outside certifications. While most companies comply with the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) industrial and commercial standards of practice, that doesn’t mean they’re truly green. Ignore listings like “ISO 9000 and 14000 compliant” and, instead, look for ratings and certifications from SKAL, Soil Association, Demeter, KRAV, and OKO-Tex. These independent companies actually review the practices that manufacturers are using, while ISO just lists guidelines for eco-friendly practices.
We’ve been battling uphill for sustainable living for decades. From our hybrid cars to our farmers markets, we’ve certainly come a long way. Without “the beautiful people” behind the movement, though, we’ll never be able to create a higher standard of ethical consumerism. We need to begin holding the fashion community accountable for what it creates, from source to production to delivery, to send the message that it’s not just about keeping up with the Joneses. It’s about a better way of life.
The following sources offer more information:
*Center for Disease Control – ToxFAQs: Carbon Disulfide and Sodium Hydroxide
*General information on bamboo processing: EcoVillageGreen.com
*In-depth information on bamboo manufacturing, including step-by-step processes and links to certification websites: OrganicClothing.Blogs.com
Images via SomdayNeverComes.com and WeHeartIt.com (2).
Tags: bamboo, chemical manufacturing, ecology, ethical fashion, is bamboo eco-friendly, mechanical manufacturing, organic clothing, toxic chemicals
Thank you for such a plainly worded breakdown. I’ve wanted to use bamboo for my work, but didn’t know the differences and things to look for to avoid the chemically processed versions…and now I do.
.-= Pamela´s last blog ..Working =-.
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by craftyasparagus: Bamboo: sustainable fabric…or are manufacturers lying to you? http://tinyurl.com/ylecoff Know what you buy!…
Great article! RT @craftyasparagus How Green is Your Bamboo? : Awakened Aesthetic http://tinyurl.com/ylecoff
What a great post! You not only inform us, but give us suggestions about how we can consider bamboo in more responsible ways – I really appreciate it, as bamboo can create such amazing fabric, thanks!
Thank you all for the RTs! I'm glad this info is out there – no doops for the system! How Green is Your Bamboo?: http://tinyurl.com/ylecoff
RT @TheDemoiselles: RT @MissElle: AMAZING.
RT @craftyasparagus How Green is Your Bamboo? : Awakened Aesthetic http://tinyurl.com/ylecoff
This is absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for such a clear, concise description of the process.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jen, Jen, Jen, The Demoiselles, Miss Elle and others. Miss Elle said: Still floored by this article by @craftyasparagus. So, so good. || How Green is Your Bamboo? – http://shar.es/aFTOe [...]
RT @MissElle: Still floored by this article by @craftyasparagus. So, so good. || How Green is Your Bamboo? – http://shar.es/aFTOe
RT @MissElle: Still floored by this article by @craftyasparagus. So, so good. || How Green is Your Bamboo? – http://shar.es/aFTOe
I’m glad you’re bringing this up! It seems like not enough people listened when the FTC came out with their original ruling on Greenwashing.
Unfortunately, one of the other bad parts about using bamboo is that there are a few strains that are a great, sustainable source for material. However, there are a few strains of bamboo that are incredibly invasive. If a grower gets the wrong strain, they’ll have a crop that will overrun everything else in the area. (I have a friend who does landscaping that advises putting the plant in troughs or containers to grow, to try and avoid having your yard/garden overrun with bamboo).
.-= birdie´s last blog ..Best. Scale. Ever. =-.
Thanks for commenting!
That’s a good example of the root system I was talking about. In properly-maintained bamboo forests it’s not a problem – agriculture is these farmers’ profession – but if a layman is planning on planting bamboo in his back yard he needs to make sure they keep that root system in check.
Have you read it yet? Know what's in your clothing! RT @craftyasparagus How Green is Your Bamboo? : http://tinyurl.com/ylecoff
Yeah, definitely. I do worry that because it’s the hip, new fabric/medium/etc, we might see a lot of growers popping up who don’t necessarily know what they’re doing. It’d be nice to see companies call out, or stand behind their trusted growers (emphasis on your point about transparency!!).
.-= birdie´s last blog ..Links à La Mode: Style, An Introspective Approach =-.
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such a great post, u most have done research girl
.-= M´s last blog ..Purrring my way to fierce =-.
Wow, great simple explanation of the process. I’d seen articles here and there about the darker side to bamboo but I had trouble understanding how to even begin to tell the difference between “good” and “bad” bamboo fabric. And I didn’t realize that about all rayon either! I’m always trying to educate myself about these issues, so this is really helpful.
.-= Mallory @ MissMalaprop´s last blog ..Crafty Contests and Discussions =-.
[...] This week we’ve got meaty posts covering ethical topics like the sustainability of bamboo at Awakened Aesthetic while Bonne-Vie covers the the implications of buying items made in China. We’ve got not 1–not [...]
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I truly adore you for this post – you’ve put everything into simple terms and made it so easy for one to truly understand what bamboo is. Amazing post!!
.-= Cafe Fashionista´s last blog ..Style Secrets: Tall Drink of Water =-.
Great post!
[...] This week we’ve got meaty posts covering ethical topics like the sustainability of bamboo at Awakened Aesthetic while Bonne-Vie covers the the implications of buying items made in China. We’ve got not 1–not [...]
Great article. I’ve often wondered about the eco-friendliness of bamboo. Just because its fast-growing…anything can be over-harvested, can’t it?
Incredibly interesting read for fellow eco-freaks RT @craftyasparagus How Green is Your Bamboo? : Awakened Aesthetic http://bit.ly/7ve8wX
How Green is Your Bamboo? – Food for thought…. http://shar.es/aVUfq
Thank you for the helpful piece of information! Definitely learned a lot from this post.
.-= SF Indie Fashion´s last blog ..All Hail to Gail =-.
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[...] example, lets say you have this awesome bamboo top you bought last year, but after you read about how bamboo has been a victim of greenwashing, you realized it’s chemically processed bamboo rayon top. Now what? Do you throw the evil [...]
[...] cotton is backbreaking, poorly paid work, and synthetics are often very toxic to manufacture. Bamboo isn’t nearly as environmentally friendly as it’s made out to be, due to the chemical [...]
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[...] Bamboo Rayon – it is bamboo, yes. Yay for that. Bamboo Rayon – people read that and think “HURR, ECO! I AM HELPING!” Bamboo Rayon… In chemical processing, the same bamboo is “cooked” in acid (among other things). The result isn’t an organic bamboo yarn, or even a remotely eco-friendly fabric. Instead, it’s called “regenerated cellulose fiber” or, more commonly, bamboo rayon. [...]
[...] 1. How Green is Your Bamboo? [...]
[...] to this rapidly growing (in both size and popularity) company is their use of Bamboo Rayon. As Jen outlined earlier on AA, and several publications confirm, bamboo rayon is horrible, horrible, horrible for the environment [...]
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Thanks for the in-site into how they process bamboo, do they use these same methods for something like hemp? i ask because i see a lot of “green” clothing that are made from hemp, and also i have been told hemp is a better plant to grown then cotton (as far as the damage it does to the earth)
Thanks for the blog,
Tyler