Sustainable Fibers 101: Bamboo

No longer just a feast for panda bears, bamboo has made its way into the eco-fashion world. And why not? As a resource, bamboo is about as sustainable as you can get. Here's why:

• Technically a grass and not a tree, it grows FAST -- up to a yard or more a day! It reaches maturity quickly and is ready for harvesting in 4 years.
• Bamboo grows this rapidly without the use of pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers.
• Bamboo clothing is biodegradable -- it will decompose in the soil by microorganisms and sunlight without producing any methane gas (a common pollutant).
• Bamboo plantations actually reduce greenhouse gases by absorbing about 5 times the amount of carbon dioxide and producing 35% more oxygen than a comparable area of trees.

There's so much to like about the products that are made from bamboo:

• Bamboo fabric is so soft and fluid, like silk, but it's more durable and less expensive.
• It's easy to launder at home -- no trips to the dry cleaner!
• In hot and humid weather, bamboo fabric won't stick to your skin; it absorbs water and wicks it away from your skin 3-4 times faster than cotton.

Although there's been some controversy over the process of turning bamboo into fabric, there IS an eco-friendly way to produce bamboo fabric (sometimes called bamboo linen). It's a mechanical process similar to the one in which linen fabric is made from flax or hemp, but it's more costly and labor-intensive. There is also a newer chemical process -- modified from the process used to make Tencel (more on that fiber later) -- that uses healthier chemicals which are captured and used again, keeping them out of the ecosystem. Here's hoping that more and more manufacturers use these healthy, green ways to produce this luxurious fabric.

If you want to read more about bamboo's benefits and the process of turning it into fabric, there's a wealth of knowledge at OrganicClothing.blogs.com.