Good morning,
Could you please tell me which is more environmentally friendly - products (such as towels, sheets, clothing, etc) made from organic cotton or bamboo? I understand that bamboo plants grow incredibly fast, but that the process in making the cloth environmentally unfriendly.
Thank you for your efforts and your answer.
Barbara
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Mon, Mar. 24, 2008
Organic Cotton v. Bamboo
Posted by
Barbara Barry
Barbara Barry
Comments (6)
bamboo vs organic cotton
When I was designing prints for Patagonia's Pataloha line, the art director, Dale Hope, told me that they did Not use bamboo fabics because the process to take plant to textile was not environmentally friendly.That was a few years ago though.
My son used to manage Hemp Wise in Santa Barbara and convinced me that hemp would save the world:
no crop rotation needed
no fertilizer needed
high protein content in seeds for food
I support changing the laws in the USA to allow hemp to be grown here again.
If we stop buying new clothes, we are not supporting the companies that are working hard to manufacture beautiful organic products.
Water that does not move becomes stagnant.
This is a hard one
My understanding is that the "silky"-feeling bamboo fabric that is primarly used is chemically-produced, and therefore not super-earth-friendly. The more lineny-feeling bamboo fabric is mechanically produced and a better option if you're going with bamboo. If you are so inclined, you can get organic cotton clothing that is 100% U.S. grown & made, which means you're not dealing with as much transportation.
Not an answer - just additional food for thought!
GOD made an Earth with a lot of good choices!
there are sooo many natural resources still yet untapped!
like switchgrass for ethanol rather than corn, i am sure that one day we will have a safe process to make a really comfy teeshirt!
right now, although bamboo is awesome as chopsticks to take with you to work/school to use and reuse to eat with, for clothing stick with cotton...unless you like wool!
absolutely use freecycle
freecycle is truly a way to help save our mother earth. One man's/woman's disposable items are another's treasures. You can find all types of items on freecycle groups are in all cities big and small
Remember............THE EARTH IS OUR MOTHER...........TREAT HER WITH RESPECT, IF FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN FOR OUR CHILDREN.
Check Out Patagonia
I agree with all of your points. If you have to purchase a new piece of clothing, check out Patagonia, and review their current project; Footprint Chronicles. They are giving information to the public and looking inward to review how many resources are wasted on, say "one" tee shirt or a fleece made of recycled bottles. I love the fact that they are looking inwardly and sharing and making changes. Truly concerned with the impact they are making. They also recycle the old Patagonia fleece jackets.
For awhile I thought that bamboo would be a better choice for say sheets, but after researching the chemical used to produce the fabric; I reverted back to organic cotton. Although I do believe that Bamboo is great for many other applications.
From What I Understand, Bamboo is Worse
From what I understand, it sounds as if the bamboo process is worse. Here's my opinion on what is "most" to what is "least" environmentally friendly:
Don't buy more. Mend, patch, or dye what you already have and keep using it.
If you must get more, get it "used"...go to second-hand stores, or join "freecycle" for your area on yahoo groups where you can post what you want for your area and people will give it to you for free if they have it. Also, find friends you can "trade" clothes, etc. with. There are lots of things in good condition that you can find used, and if you can't find it at brick-and-mortar places, try ebay.
THEN if you must buy something new...organic cotton, best would be from a local small business...but if a large retailer, hopefully one that's high on the social/environmental responsibility rating...and hopefully, especially if linens, they'll last you a long time, and you can turn your really old, worn things int rags instead of buying Swiffer disposable cleaning products!!
Worst--buying brand new things you don't really need from a retailer that doesn't really care on a (too) regular basis due to affluenza!!
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