FTC Declares Some Bamboo Clothing Retailers Are Misleading

I really appreciate you bringing this to our attention. I had no idea that bamboo fabrics were being greenwashed...I really thought that they were a more eco-friendly choice than organic cotton! I quoted this sentence from the article you linked to for anyone who didn't know the following: "to make rayon, bamboo or any cellulose source it is typically ground up, dissolved and process into a viscous liquid with chemicals such as the highly toxic carbon disulfide. It is much more energy intensive and much more polluting."

Can you recommend any authentically greener choices?

What's your take on just buying thrift store items that were already produced conventionally but are kept out of the waste stream?

Linda,

Isn't that quote from the EPA amazing! If people really understood what the process is, I think they'd run quickly away from any bamboo clothing.

As for alternatives, reusing clothing is always the best! But, if you do need something new (after all, I'm not a fan of used bathing suits, underwear, and so on) if you live near the source for organic cotton, that's an OK choice. Oddly enough tho, recycled plastic bottles (recycled PET) are actually one of the "greenest" fibers. More and more companies are starting to offer a nice selection. And, luckily, the recycled PET has come a long way from the old polyester days. A friend of mine has a t-shirt company (http://alottosay.com) and the fabric is almost like cashmere.

It is actually the FTC, not the EPA.

There are no standards to use as metrics to gauge the terms "eco-friendly" or "green". Generally, I believe the best definition of eco-friendly goes something like this; Let the consumption of resources necessary to satisfy our lifestyle choices have no more economic, environmental or social impact than can be restored within the lifetime of the product or consumer themselves.

So what do I mean by this statement? Buy now, consume now and pay now in all aspects of the supply chain from which our products have been derived. Let us not borrow resources from the future to subsidize our lifestyle choices today (i.e. excessive use of pesticides, chemical processing, indentured servitude, water consumption, etc.).

When observed in the light of the entire supply chain of bamboo fiber products, there are some very compelling aspects; bamboo itself is very easily sustained with minimal if any water supplementation. It will grow in nearly any environment and does not promote deforestation or land strip farming. Bamboo is naturally resistant to disease and pests so it does not require chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Many bamboo farmers produce certified organic bamboo.

In contrast, cotton consumes more pesticides, water and fertilizers by volume than any other massively commercialized crop. Estimates based on scientific testing indicate approximately 60% of the pesticides used for standard cotton crop production end up in our food chain through "by-product" crop utilization such as cotton seed oil and cotton husk fiber. Yes, there are organic cotton farms, but not enough to make a drop in the ocean of cotton product consumption.

In summary;
There are some highly desirable facets of bamboo and there are some highly undesirable aspects, too. Investigating the entire supply chain as opposed to focusing in on one step in the long process of bringing a product from raw material to finished goods is a much more holistic way to asses the environment and socio-economic impact.

Regards,
Craig