Bamboo Clothing is Really Not that Green
There is a bit of controversy in regards to how “green” bamboo clothing really is and I’ve decided to research that fact further to see how accurate our previous article, Bamboo Clothing – Our Green Fashion Future, is when it comes to being “green”.
After some further reading, I’ve found several articles that do share the fact that toxic chemicals are used in creating bamboo fabrics. A site that I trust and admire, TreeHugger.com, shared an article, Is Bamboo Truly Green, that seems to support the toxic chemical fact as well. The article actually quotes from another website, Lotus Organics. Here’s their quote:
The growing of bamboo is environmentally friendly but the manufacturing of bamboo into fabric raises environmental and health concerns because of the strong chemical solvents used to cook the bamboo plant into a viscose solution that is then reconstructed into cellulose fiber for weaving into yarn for fabric.
Another article worth checking out is from the Organic Clothing blog that exposes the “green myths” associated with bamboo clothing.
In addition to the toxic chemicals used to create the fabric, there’s also the pollution created from that process. Mo, who has “most of what he owns tied up in Bamboosa” was concerned about the accuracy of our previous article in regards to contaminants in the waterways. The sattlerclothing.com site posted an article claiming these facts. Here’s a sample:
For now, many experts suggest that very, very little bamboo clothing would qualify as sustainable or organic clothes due to the dominant manufacturing process of hydrolysis alkalization and multi-phase bleaching that use caustic soda and bleach. These chemicals are known to create a myriad of health problems and neural disorders and if the manufacturing facility lacks adequate pollution control systems – a common backburner issue for developing countries – these toxic chemicals find their way into the environment through smokestacks or waterways.
In addition, Mother Nature Network (www.mnn.com), quotes what the FTC has to say on the matter which includes Bamboosa making false claims:
The complaints also allege that these four companies make a number of other “green” claims about their clothing and textile products, none of which are true or substantiated. All four companies claim their products retain the bamboo plant’s antimicrobial properties. The settling companies — Jonäno, Mad Mod, and Pure Bamboo — also claim that their products are made using environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, and both Pure Bamboo and Bamboosa make unqualified claims that their products are biodegradable, and that they will completely break down and return to the elements found in nature in a reasonably short period of time after customary disposal. Rayon products are not biodegradable because they will not break down in a reasonably short time after customary disposal. Most clothing and textiles are disposed of either by recycling or sending to a landfill. Neither method results in quick biodegradation.
Read the rest of MNN’s article here: Are Bamboo Textiles Really Not Green?
And one more article that I found very informative as well on this topic comes from www.think2100.com.
These are just some of the articles I came across that pretty much confirms the fact that bamboo clothing has some catching up to do when it comes to being a “truly green” item. Yes, bamboo itself is green but when it comes to producing bamboo clothing, there are areas that can use some improvement.
