How sustainable is bamboo?
As a raw material, bamboo is a natural and highly sustainable plant. It has a minimal environmental impact compared with many crops. The crop has many sustainable benefits. These include:
- Growing quickly with an easy-to-grow nature Maturing quickly
- Being able to grow on land that may not be suitable for other crops
- Absorbing a large amount of carbon dioxide.
- Does not Require Pesticides: One of the significant benefits of using bamboo for fabrics is that growing it doesn’t require pesticides.
The plant contains a natural antimicrobial bio-agent called bamboo-kun. The presence of this substance means there is no need for pesticides when growing the crop.
Bamboo is the quickest growing woody plant in the world. It is easy to grow and this makes it a go-to crop for making bamboo fabric.
Bamboo fabric is soft and friendly to the skin. The fabric also keeps you dry by drawing moisture or sweat from your skin while possessing natural antibacterial properties.
Bamboo fibres are all cellulose fibre extracted or fabricated from natural bamboo, but they vary widely.
Types of Bamboo Fabric and Their Processing
Viscose Rayon Production
Most modern clothing labeled as being made from bamboo is usually viscose rayon, a fiber made by dissolving the cellulose in the bamboo, and then extruding it to form fibres. This process removes the natural characteristics of bamboo fibre, rendering it identical to rayon from other cellulose sources.
Even though bamboo plants are used to make this fabric, the process can be toxic to the planet. Some of these chemicals are also harmful to workers
Workers are seriously harmed by inhaling the carbon disulfide (CS2) used to make bamboo viscose. Effects include psychosis, heart attacks, liver damage, and blindness. Rayon factories rarely give information on their occupational exposure limits and compliance. Even in developed countries, safety laws are too lax to prevent harm.
- You compress the cellulose from bamboo fibers into sheets, process it using carbon disulfide (which is known to be a harmful chemical), and filter it.
- Then, you push the cellulose through a spinneret. This process transforms the cellulose into strands.
- To soften the strands, you immerse them in another chemical called sulfuric acid. This produces filaments then spun into yarn. Finally, machines can weave this into the useful fabric for clothes.