Bamboo Sustainable- Bamboo Clothing Not Green/Eco-Friendly

I found a fantastic article about bamboo and manufacturing clothing with bamboo. Like many, I thought bamboo clothes were eco-friendly, but in fact they are not. Of course bamboo is a fantastic, sustainable plant that has many benefits. The following is a quote from Bamboo Facts: Behind the Fiber. The article is long, but well worth reading all of it so that you can make your own choices about bamboo clothing. You can find the whole article at Organic Clothing Blog

The bottom line on bamboo. 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.

Bamboo clothing marketers have found a variety of ways to put the most eco-friendly and sustainable face on the manufacturing of bamboo fabric. The dominant manufacturing process of hydrolysis alkalization and multi-phase bleaching is generally referred to as a rather benign process utilizing caustic soda and bleach. The chemicals used are known to create a variety of health problems and neural disorders which can be hazardous to the health of fiber manufacturing workers. If the manufacturing facility lacks adequate pollution control systems – all too common in developing countries where regulations and enforcement are nearly non-existent – then these toxic chemicals can escape into the atmosphere through air vents and smokestacks and into waterways through inadequately treated waste water disposal systems.

Some bamboo fiber manufacturing facilities trumpet their sustainability and green credentials by establishing ISO 9000 Quality Management policies and ISO 14000 Environmental Management policies. This is largely a PR red herring tossed by the manufacturing facilities and marketers because these ISO standards do not mean that the facilities, their manufacturing processes or their fabrics have been certified by any of the international certification bodies such as SKAL, Soil Association, Demeter, KRAV, or OKO-tex.
written by Michael Lackman of Lotus Organics September 2007.

Blessings,
Justyn

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