If you thought your bamboo clothing was all-natural and organic, think again. In fact, you may have been bamboozled into believing that it’s the answer to all of your green fashion needs. In the recent hype about the bamboo plant’s virtues, many of us have jumped on the bandwagon and started wearing it, in the form of t-shirts, etc. Or lying on it, in the form of sheets, of course. While it’s true, bamboo is a sustainable resource because of its ability to grow quickly and without the use of pesticides, some end products are far from being green because of using something not so eco-friendly: chemicals.
The Federal Trade Commission, the United States’ consumer protection agency, has hollowed out the misconceptions and revealed that soft bamboo textiles are actually rayon. What’s wrong with that? Rayon is made using toxic chemicals in a process that contributes to air pollution. Textiles made exclusively from bamboo lack that coveted, silky smoothness.
As well, there is a huge lack of evidence to reassure us that processed bamboo retains the beneficial traits that the actual plant exhibits, such as antimicrobial properties. Companies that manufacture and sell bamboo products often make the ‘bamboo plant source’ claim, even when the finished product is a far cry from the organic first ingredient.
That’s why the Federal Trade Commission recently charged four companies dealing in bamboo textiles with false advertising. Now the FTC is requiring that companies provide scientific tests and analysis to confirm that their products are made of true bamboo fiber.
Add to this little case of greenwashing the fact that bamboo isn’t exactly a locally-grown resource. It is native to Asia, and much of the bamboo used in North America has to be transported from that part of the world to ours.
All things considered, that bamboo t-shirt is not as green as it looked at first. No, not a case of colour-fading but a serious bout of eco-blindness that’s finally getting cleared up.
