Bamboo Clothing - The Pro's and Con's

Fashion has taken a seriously green turn this year, with London Fashion Week kicking off the trend back in February and in April we in Ireland hosted our first ever Ethical Fashion Week. 

Bamboo clothing is being heralded as the newest eco-fabric and at a recent trade show I was excited to finally see and feel this new cloth. It is beautiful, I was struck by how shiny it was, it's appearance and feel is closer to that of satin than it's eco-competitor organic cotton. It was also really light, a cloth nappy seemed to loose all it's bulkiness when made from bamboo.  The lady at the stand told me that because of it's natural deodorising properties you could wear the socks for a week without washing them... although I'm not quite sure if I'm ready to test that yet!

The advantages of bamboo seem endless, it's naturally antibacterial and anti-fungal, it's durable, it grows quickly without the use of pesticides and it is completely sustainable. It would seem to be a miracle fabric, but as with all things there is a disadvantage. I had noticed that although bamboo is grown organically that none of the garments seemed to be labeled organic. Looking into this further I discovered that hazardous chemicals such as sodium hydroxide and carbon disulfide are used during the processing of the plant. These chemicals are extremely toxic and can cause severe health problems to the people working with them. For example carbon disulfide is known to:

 '...affect the normal functions of the brain, liver, and heart'  *

and sodium hydroxide when inhaled can cause:

 '...swelling or spasms of the upper airway leading to obstruction and loss of measurable pulse; inflammation of the lungs and accumulation of fluid in the lungs may also occur'*

Even with all these health effects bamboo is still more environmentally friendly than many other materials. For example non organic cotton uses approximately 150g of pesticide per pound of raw cotton - enough to produce just one T shirt.

The good news is that there is an eco-friendly and organic way of producing bamboo cloth which allows natural the natural enzymes in the plant to break down the pulp. Although it is eco-friendly it is very labour intensive and as a result costly. New technologies are also being developed to help make the mass processing methods greener.

 

* Source: The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry

Further Reading:  

Environmental News Network

Los Angeles Times Blog

Organic Clothing

Why Organic Cotton?

Organic cotton seems to be really hot this year. I sell organic cotton baby clothes both in my hampers and at my market stall in Stillorgan, Dublin. I have been stocking them for just over a year, and they have always been a big seller . The trend seems to be spreading. One of the local shopkeepers in the Stillorgan shopping centre was telling me that they were particularly pleased with their new organic cotton range. It had only been on the rails for just over a week but were already selling really well. If you are in Stillorgan on a Wednesday pop by my stall and I will point you in the direction of her shop.

I am often asked how cotton can be organic. I think we often forget that our clothes come from plants too. In fact, according to The Guardian's Green Living Guide: "More than 10% of all agricultural pesticides are used to grow cotton, even though it makes up less than 3% of the worlds crops" Also most of these crops are grown in developing countries where the environmental impact and damage to human health that these chemicals cause is most damaging. Imagine a country with very little water, then imagine polluting that water source. The best source of information on organic cotton that I have found is PAN UK

The advantage for us? The baby clothes I sell are noticeably softer than the non-organic alternative, they are gentle next to the babies skin, and in my opinion less likely to flare up any allergies that a child may have. For the adult it's the same. There are great brands of organic socks and underwear out there. As for organic cotton fashion items, you can feel good about wearing them as well as looking great.

So where can you buy organic cotton? In Ireland of course you can buy from me. Also try Unicorn Designs or Oxfam and I know there are a lot more that you can get mail order from the UK.