Dear Umbra,
Sustainably grown bamboo is a very good choice for fabrics. But how does the consumer know it is harvested sustainably? After all, some bamboo is clear cut from old-growth stands. Even in cultivated bamboo there are some very unsustainable practices (for instance, harvesting too young). How can you know if the bamboo fabric you are buying is harvested sustainably?
Gar L.
Olympia, Wash.
Dearest Gar,
Telepathy is the only way. Close your eyes, put your hand on the fabric, and let a vision of a Giant Panda come in to your mind. If the panda is frolicking, all is well.
Dude, that’s a lot of grass.
Bamboo is hot hot hot, for flooring, fabric, and myriad other stripy items. It is an inexpensive material, and the plants grow quickly and can do so without many fertilizers or pesticides. The mysteries of the exploding bamboo industry include the questions you mentioned above, and others such as how are the workers treated, are commercial pressures leading to the removal of other vegetation and the planting of bamboo in its place, are farmers adding chemical fertilizer to increase production, and what toxic chemicals are added in order to make products such as flooring and fabrics?
We’ll get to that last question in a moment. The answer to the rest is: no one really knows for sure. I spoke with Jackie Heinricher, a bamboo expert and entrepreneur here in Washington, who says bamboo is both blessed and cursed: It’s a truly green plant, but there’s no accountability in the current industry.
There is no sustainable-harvest certification to look for, in part because, says Jackie, bamboo grows so quickly that no one imagined it would ever have overharvest issues. I did find that the Forest Stewardship Council has a certified bamboo flooring producer. I also tracked down one organic bamboo fabric producer, certified by OCIA International and the USDA, whose products are sold by Bamboosa and perhaps others. (The organic certification process for bamboo fabric would be similar to that for other fibers such as cotton, and is governed by crop and livestock production standards.) Another certification often touted for fabrics is Oeko-tek 100, however this only guarantees minimal residue on the fibers and tells us nothing about raw material production methods.
Outside of these eco-certifications, I think there is no surety for sustainably produced bamboo fabric. Given the general positives about bamboo—its speedy regrowth, its low fertilizer needs, its high carbon-sequestration abilities—we could hold out some reasonable hope that a bamboo plant’s life was fairly low-impact. But here’s the catch: It’s the bamboo fiber production that leaves quite a bit to be desired.
It’s just difficult to make a hard grass into a shirt, and so we use chemicals to soften the fibers. Here’s what I’ve read: there are two ways to mash a bamboo plant in to fibers appropriate for fabric. One is mechanically, via crushing and enzymes. Mechanical processing results in a linen type of fabric, and is expensive and unusual. Most bamboo is processed in a bath of lye and carbon disulfide, along with something referred to as “multi-phase bleaching.” It is akin to the method for making rayon out of cellulose, and it can be quite toxic to workers and nearby nature.
So is bamboo worse than other fabrics? Probably not. It may in fact be a little better. There aren’t good “chain of custody” certifications, but that doesn’t mean that the wool is pulled over our eyes and bamboo is never ecologically preferred. A possibly promising development comes from Jackie and others, who are finding ways to cultivate bamboo domestically and responsibly. Meantime, we’re just stuck with our same old clothing rules: buy few, buy organic, buy used, dry on the line.
Pandaly,
Umbra
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Comments
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SaraLaws Posted 2:09 am
11 Feb 2009
It is been tested by labs to show that it does not have any antibacterial properties.
It is very weak and wears quickly.
Not to mention that it is grown on the sides of mountains, displaces native species and is cut down by primarily women and children.
This is why the green movement is stalled. So much false advertising and people are tired of getting fleeced.
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georgeg Posted 2:21 am
11 Feb 2009
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xedri Posted 3:04 am
11 Feb 2009
Bamboo is native to Southeast Asia. Elsewhere, it is extremely invasive. It tends to take over habitats...it displaces native plant species (as mentioned by SaraLaws above) and provides little to no food and cover value to native animals. It can also easily escape crop situation and start growing in the wild.
Even if we harvest bamboo only from its native range in Asia, we then have all the energy costs of transporting it (raw or processed) back to the U.S.
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PermieWriter Posted 3:55 am
11 Feb 2009
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oddtree Posted 4:40 am
11 Feb 2009
Also, I'm not sure what evidence there is that bamboo is weak and wears quickly. I have several Bamboosa shirts I've had for years and worn a lot and they still are in good shape. With fibers like cotton, the quality often comes from both the length of the original fibers and the process through which they are spun. Anyone have any research on this?
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bailsout Posted 3:45 pm
11 Feb 2009
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dirthippy Posted 8:30 pm
11 Feb 2009
I am a treehugger through and through, but I find the constant scrutiny of every product that comes on the market both disheartening and trite. Every product we use, no matter how hard we try, will have an impact on the environment. Every animal and plant impacts its environment. It's nature.
I believe a bigger concern with bamboo and every other "sustainable" product we mass produce (coffee, tea, chocolate, cork, etc.) is worker fairness, as several have already stated.
Give bamboo a try. Find something good about it. And find something good about other sustainable products too. Or better yet, make a superior product! Others will scrutinize your ideas and likely find some problems with them too. It's okay to find negative points, but try to focus on the positives or you'll give yourself an ulcer.
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gooseduckstevens Posted 2:13 am
12 Feb 2009
Ugh...really? The last thing we need is mass introductions of this highly invasive, notoriously stubborn foreign species in this country.
Hey, let's plant kudzu too, because you can make jelly out of it. And I hear that Ligustrum can be used in multivitamins! Great sustainable business opportunities abound!
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redambrosia99 Posted 3:44 am
12 Feb 2009
Here's why rayon is a good type of fabric: it is very soft, has good drape and hand, and is much less expensive than silk. bamboofabricstore.com has a great selection of bamboo fabric by the yard which is Oeko-Tek certified. This fabric is basically made using the tencel process, which uses much less chemicals than the traditional rayon and acetate processes.
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kilgore trout Posted 5:13 am
12 Feb 2009
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Pangolin Posted 3:00 pm
17 Feb 2009
Bamboo groves preserve and grow soils and hold soils tightly to hillsides where no other productive crop could be raised. Even timbering or orcharding sloping land leads to erosion in comparison. There are bamboos native to all continents except Antarctica with commercially harvested varieties in North and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia.
Whatever the problems with bamboo fabrics are it is unlikely that they are as damaging, pesticide drenched or soil erosive as cotton. As for the recycled plastic fabrics; they ignite AND melt onto the skin in a fire. Kind of like wearing a gasoline shirt.
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consciousmom Posted 10:09 am
18 Feb 2009
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sunkejie Posted 6:59 am
04 Mar 2009
The reason people say bamboo grows fast is because it can grow up to 4 feet in 24 hours. Would you call that fast?
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sunkejie Posted 7:20 am
04 Mar 2009
That is not quite the whole truth.
Bamboo is native to USA. And to South America. And to Africa. And to India and to most of Asia.
There are more than 1200 different varieties of bamboo and they come from all over the world.
Yes, you read that right: there are bamboo that are native to the States.
Yes, some varieties are also native of SE Asia, but what is special about that? Where do you get the idea that it all started in SE Asia?
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sunkejie Posted 7:42 am
04 Mar 2009
What examples can you give of this. It is interesting that I have heard people say that bamboo is "invasive" and "displaces native species" but they never give examples.
I suppose this goes without saying. Everyone knows it. Sorry, it isn't true.
Check and see if you can find a single state where any variety of bamboo is listed as a pest or invasive plant or anything like that. I would be surprised if you found any. I'd be glad to know.
There are a couple varieties of bamboo that are native to the USA and they haven't taken over.
There are hundreds of other varieties that have been introduced from Asia, Africa, and South America and none of them have "taken over" any part of the USA. What is the problem?
One variety known as "Black Bamboo" was first introduced to the USA in 1827. It is still considered to be one of the most popular bamboo around, but it has never taken over anywhere. It is a pachymorph "runner" bamboo. Oooh! Hide.
There are no other varieties of bamboo that are taking over the countryside. This is a myth.
SaraLaws, I expect you have never seen this happen, have you? Anyone else? Why not? Because it isn't happening. This is just part of the bamboo hysteria that is running wild on this page.
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