Bamboo: Is it Better Than Cotton?
Take a minute and consider the outfit that you are wearing. What materials are your clothes made of? When you look around your home, what kinds of fabric do you see? Look at your bath towels, bedding, dishtowels, placemats, napkins and even some of your children’s toys. Most of those items are made from cotton. Have you ever wondered where all of those products came from and the process they went through in order to go from a plant to the finished product? Have you ever thought about the affect those basic, everyday items had on the environment before you purchased them?
Bamboo 101: Why Bamboo is a More Sustainable Crop
Cotton Production Facts
Growing cotton has not always been as harmful to the environment as it is today. However, since the beginning of the industrial revolution and the advent and growth of industrial chemicals, cotton farmers around the world can satisfy high demand for low-cost cotton products. Although the price for cotton is low, the damage to the environment and mankind only continues to rise.
Bamboo: A Renewable Resource
Bamboo is recorded to be the fastest-growing plant on the earth. It is a type of grass that continues to grow even after it is cut so there is no need to replant new crops after each harvest. Bamboo is cut and harvested by local farmers who have produced bamboo for generations. And bamboo does not require the use of chemical pesticides as it keeps bugs away naturally.
Why is Bamboo Fabric Production Eco Friendly?
Once bamboo has been harvested it is turned into a pulp and then the cellulose fibers are spun into threads to make fabric. Organic bamboo fabric production is a process that has been approved by the UK Soil Association and it meets the Global Organic Textile Standards. Currently China is the only country in the world that transforms bamboo crops into textiles, but hopefully this eco-friendly endeavor will spread to other countries as well.
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