Q: Are fabrics made from bamboo really green?

Although most of the manufacturing processes for bamboo may not be where we want them to be yet, the entire process is still better than most non-organic fibers and fabrics with all their chemical, synthetic, and water-intensive processes, from farming through manufacturing.

Bamboo has been growing in popularity in the sustainable fabrics fashion industry as well as for everyday textiles for sheets, towels and robes. The attention is due to its potential for environmental friendliness combined with its luxuriously soft feel, flowing drape, and other properties.

Bamboo makes wonderful clothing and bedding material. Bamboo fabric is comfortable, very breathable, moisture-wicking, fast drying, thermal regulating, and anti-static, so it doesn’t cling. Bamboo fiber absorbs and evaporates perspiration quickly.

These are the benefits of bamboo as a fabric:
Bamboo is naturally anti-bacterial, which simply means it resists the growth of bacteria on the fiber. This quality is found in the finished product, allowing it to resist the growth of bacteria that causes odors even after numerous washings.

Anti-microbial chemical treatments, common on much clothing, are unnecessary with bamboo. These treatments are known to cause allergic reaction and are environmentally unfriendly. Bamboo clothing doesn’t pick up the odor of perspiration as readily as other fabrics. Therefore you can wear a shirt even up to a week before developing odors (depending on individual constitution, of course). Washing less often saves energy and makes clothes last longer.

Bamboo is naturally hypoallergenic which means it’s less likely to cause an allergic reaction in individuals especially those with multiple chemical sensitivities (mcs). Bamboo clothing is naturally more wrinkle-resistant than cotton.

Here's how bamboo farming is eco-friendly:

• It's typically a very environmentally-responsible, renewable, and sustainable practice. Practically all bamboo comes from China. If the company that’s having their clothing made in China has requirements for protecting the environment and fair labor, they can find manufacturers that satisfy these concerns. Third party certification is utilized for verification.
• It has relatively low water needs, especially compared to cotton and most other crops. It does extremely well in impoverished soils. In addition, bamboo roots help retain water in a watershed areas due to their tight hold on the soil. The entire plant is never harvested, and re-growth occurs naturally and rapidly. Bamboo is one of the fastest growing plants in the world. It is one of the world’s most naturally renewable and sustainable resources.
• Bamboo fiber and fabric, as a natural cellulose fiber, is biodegradable in soil by microorganisms and sunshine.
• The decomposition process doesn’t cause any pollution to the environment. A problem arises if blending bamboo with a synthetic elastic, so it’s best to obtain 100% bamboo or bamboo blended with organic cotton. (Non-organic cotton is one of the most environmentally destructive crops.)

Although bamboo farming is wonderfully sustainable, bamboo fabric has other considerations...
Although the bamboo stalk can be broken down mechanically to extract the fibers, this is a labor intensive and costly process. Therefore, bamboo is usually chemically processed into a fiber.

Often the chemical process that is used is the same process used to make rayon (also called viscose, especially in Europe ). The rayon process is an environmentally unfriendly process and may introduce some heavy metals into the fiber. Most bamboo is made with the rayon process.

However, I’m starting to see bamboo made with the lyocell process. This is an environmentally-friendly chemical process, whose fabric is often sold under the brand Tencel®. This process uses more environmentally-friendly chemicals of which 99.5% are recovered and reused. It will eventually become common as more demand is created for environmentally friendly clothing from farming through manufacturing.

There’s been some concern and discussion about the proper way to label bamboo clothing and other textiles. Therefore you’ll see labels that say: “bamboo,” “bamboo rayon,” “rayon of bamboo,” “bamboo lyocell,” and others. If the label just says “bamboo,” it is unknown which particular process was used. Otherwise, these labels mean the rayon or lyocell process was used to create the bamboo fiber.

Ed Mass is President and Founder of Yes It’s Organic, an online store for Organic, Fair Labor, and Eco Friendly goods including adult to baby clothing, bedding, towels, mattresses, sustainable furniture, organic logo wear and promotional products for organizations wanting to improve their environmental footprint, and more. After being an environmentalist for over 40 years, including designing solar energy systems in the 1970s, he decided to participate more directly in growing the organic, fair labor and eco friendly industries by educating consumers and influencing their buying habits.