Bamboo

Bamboo fabric facts...

• The grass produces an ultra-soft fabric that is twice as soft as cotton and is said to rival the softness of cashmere.
• The fabric wicks moisture away from the body keeping the wearer dry.
• Bamboo fabric has thermally regulating properties so it keeps the wearer cool when it’s warm and warm when it’s cool, this makes the fabric suitable for such a diverse range of products and garments.
• The plant produces a fabric that has anti-bacterial properties.
• Bamboo has so many other uses other than fabric; it is used in food, construction, home ware and has many decorative purposes.

So, why is Bamboo more sustainable than other fabrics on the market?

• Bamboo does not require much water and does not need the use of pesticides and fertilisers for growth, this means than it is not using up the earth’s resources and is not harming the worlds natural eco-systems.
• No animals are harmed in the making of Bamboo fabric, the Giant Panda is in danger of becoming extinct, large areas of its natural habitat (areas where Bamboo is grown) are being destroyed. As Bamboo is becoming more and more popular more of the plant is being grown and areas of land that already grow the grass are saved. This means that the Giant Panda will have a better chance of survival.
• The grass is very fast growing, from seeding to harvesting in just 2 to 4 years. This is just a fraction of the 50 - 60 years it takes for standard timber, some species are even known to grow up to 4ft in just one day!
• Year after year the plant will grow back without human intervention needed as it is a grass, therefore it is self-propagating.
• The plant produces 35% more oxygen than standard timber trees so it will help with the global rising CO2 levels.

 

 

The down side to the fabric

http://www.rapanuiclothing.com/ethical-fashion/bamboo-clothing.html

• When the bamboo plant is processed it is broken down chemically, while in the EU this process is a closed-loop system and no chemicals escape, the same can’t be said for outside of the EU.
• Outside of the EU regulations are not in place to ensure that Bamboo fabric is being created without harming the environment, stronger regulations need to be put in place to make sure that our environment is not exposed to the chemicals used to create the fabric.
• On the surface Bamboo is a great fabric as it has so many positive properties and is fully sustainable, to then go and create the fabric in a way that causes harm to the environment defeats the point of the fabrics original purpose. Once stricter regulations have been put in place then the consumer can make Bamboo purchases knowing that their item has caused no harm to our planet.