Think twice about bamboo

I like so many others are trying to live green and lower our carbon footprints. When I was starting my business I had many decisions to make and one of those involved what type of shirts I was going to use. I came across the Eco-friendly lines and along with that came bamboo. Well I am a researcher by nature so the investigation began. I have decided that I will not use bamboo apparel and I would suggest that before you jump on the bamboo bandwagon that you do your own research. There are two ways to process bamboo, mechanically or chemically. Mechanically the woody bamboo is crushed and natural enzymes are used to process the bamboo but this is not the most popular method due to the cost. The chemical process cooks the leaves and shoots in sodium hydroxide (lye) and carbon disulphide to break down the bamboo. This process is highly toxic to the people cooking the bamboo and to the environment. Just look up the word lye in Wikipedia. Most bamboo is processed in China and they have just opened a new plant and training facility in Sichuan. They are not regulated for the safety of the people cooking the bamboo or for the environmental damage the process causes.

So before you choose bamboo please do your research, it is not as eco-friendly as we are lead to believe. It is another product being promoted as green but it is more greenwashed than green......