Warning! Bamboo Clothing is not eco friendly. The Federal Trade Commission recently charged four sellers of clothing and other textile products with deceptively labeling and advertising these items as made of bamboo fiber, when they are made of rayon. The companies marketed the clothes as green, environmentally friendly, that they retain the natural antimicrobial properties of the bamboo plant, and that they are biodegradable.

“Rayon is a man-made fiber created from the cellulose found in plants and trees and processed with a harsh chemical that releases hazardous air pollutants. Any plant or tree could be used as the cellulose source – including bamboo – but the fiber that is created is rayon.”

As the Commission charges, even if the rayon used in the companies’ clothing and textile products is manufactured using bamboo as the cellulose source, rayon does not retain any natural antimicrobial properties of the bamboo plant. he rayon manufacturing process, which involves dissolving the plant source in harsh chemicals, eliminates any such natural properties of the bamboo plant.

Similarly, the Commission charges that the companies’ clothing and textiles are not made using an environmentally friendly process. The rayon manufacturing process uses toxic chemicals and results in the emission of hazardous air pollutants.”

Eco-friendly, Green clothes

Not utilizing resources to create new clothes, is obviously the most eco-friendly, green way to obtain new clothes. Secondhand stores, Goodwill, etc. are all good sources of high quality preowned clothes.

Levi’s Water‹Less jeans use on average 28% less water in the stone wash finishing process. Levi’s expects to save approximately 16,000,000 L of water by using this technique. Using traditional garment washing methods, the average pair of jeans undergoes 3-10 washing cycles – adding up to approximately 42 litres of water per unit to the water cost of each pair.

Bamboo Plates are getting more popular, just in time for summer and the go green wave. Free of bleaches, dyes, inks, fragrances, and microwave safe. Bamboo plates are stronger than most paper plates. Even mainstream brand Solo makes them. Many are made of organically grown bamboo and are compostable. Most are single use but hold up to multiple uses. Better yet, buy one that is not disposable, wash and reuse it.

Costco has just added eco Greenwares eco friendly Cutlery Set that is biodegradable and compostable.

Many things are being made out of fast growing bamboo. Bamboo Picture Frames are now available. Blick Gallery Bamboo Frames look a little plain but are finished with a biodegradable resin that contains no oils or solvents. We want to avoid VOCs on products, so every little bit helps.

Update: A year later we find bamboo clothes just are not green.

I saw an Internet ad for clothing made from bamboo.  First I’ve heard of this!  The bamboo fiber is harvest usually in China and shipping here to make clothes. Fast growing and providing good anti bacterial and UV protection, it seems too good to be true.  Turning it into fabric does require energy.

OrganicClothingBlog indicates that it does show promise but one needs to ensure the material meets this criteria:

1) Organic certified bamboo

2) Bamboo Rayon fiber creation must not need harsh chemicals

3) Make sure marketing claims match facts and are not misleading

Remember that is far more eco to not consume more of any item.  Wearing what you’ve got or buying from a used clothing store is far more eco.