It’s a fair question. I have to admit, when we tell people the main fibre used in our clothing is bamboo, they usually just stare blankly at us, as if waiting for the punch line. Fortunately, it’s not a joke. Bamboo has many benefits for us, you and the environment. For us, bamboo allows us to do something different and fun while letting us keep the moral high ground.
Here are a few benefits for you:
- Soft: Probably the first thing you will notice about our clothes is how soft they are. If you can imagine a fabric that is a cross between silk and cashmere, you’d be pretty close. The first thing most of you will think when you read that is ’oh no, that means hand washing, bo!!ocks!’ Not so. Machine wash is just fine. A regular 40 degree wash is ok, but a 30 degree wash saves on energy and is usually more than enough to get your clothes clean. You can even throw bamboo clothes in your tumble dryer; however, it is much better for the planet and any kind of clothing to line dry when able (your clothes will last substantially longer the less you use your dryer - your lint trap is proof of that!).
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Moisture wicking:
The natural makeup of the bamboo fibre allows it to absorb moisture very quickly. What that means to you is that when the weather is hot and sticky, you won’t be. The bamboo will absorb and evaporate your sweat very quickly, leaving you considerably cooler and drier.
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Breathable:
Your body can regulate its temperature much better if the skin can ’breathe’. The key word in high performance man made fabrics the past ten years or so has been ’breathable’, which is what our bamboo fabrics do naturally without having ever needed their own research and development department. Nice. Because of the moisture wicking and the breathability of these fabrics, they make an excellent base layer for layering.
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Warmer:
As well as being able to keep you cooler when it’s hot and muggy, the bamboo fabrics will keep you warm and cozy when it’s cold out. This means we can make lighter clothing that will keep you just as warm as heavier ones. Clever, innit? Kind of like having your own little climate control.
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Anti-bacterial:
Bamboo contains a bio agent that kills bacteria. The fabrics also retain this quality. If you’ve ever left wet clothes in the back of your car or van for a few days, especially if it’s been hot, then you’ll know the smell of mildew and thriving bacteria. While not a justifiable excuse for dumping wet clothes in the boot, at least if it does happen from time to time, it won’t smell like you’ve just transported a rotting corpse. If you plan on doing any travelling in hot climates, I suggest taking along at least one of our t-shirts; not only will you stay cooler but your shirt will stay fresher much longer between washes (but yes, you do still have to wash your clothes occasionally when travelling!).
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Good chat-up line:
’Hey, wanna touch my bamboo?’
So for you bamboo offers extra soft, machine washable clothes that keep you cool when it’s hot, warm when it’s cold and won’t leave you smelling like a hobo when you’re backpacking through Central America on a two month surfari.
Here’s the good news for the environment:
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Pesticide free:
The same bio agent that keeps you from smelling like you have an aversion to soap also allows the bamboo plant to thrive without the use of pesticides. A brief search on ’tinternet will give you an idea of how bad these chemicals are for the planet. Most little pests can adapt and become immune to a new pesticide in a matter of a few years anyway. Nice to see that the bamboo can fend for itself. It is believed that it takes approximately 1/3 pound of fertilizers and pesticides just to make one t-shirt.
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Fertilizer free:
Like most things on Earth, bamboo does just fine without the help of us supreme beings. If you have ever planted bamboo in your garden (I have), you will know that it’s not a matter of helping it to grow, it’s confining it to the area where you want it to stay! Because bamboo can spread so rapidly, it is actually reported to improve soil quality in degraded and eroded areas. For an idea of how bad chemical fertilizers and pesticides are for the environment, have a look at what the big sugarcane plantations in southern Florida have managed to do to the Everglades.
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Sustainable:
First of all, bamboo is not a tree, it is grass. For those of you with large areas of lawn, then you know that grass grows rather quickly. Bamboo grows ridiculously fast, even for grass. Some species of bamboo can grow as much as four feet in a single day! Because the bamboo regenerates itself so quickly, the yield from a single bamboo plantation is huge, without the need to replant.
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Biodegradable:
If there’s nowhere near you to recycle your worn out bamboo clothing (hopefully by the time your first piece of bamboo clothing wears out Little Green Rock will have its own recycling program) you can still keep it out of the landfill by throwing it in your composter.
So for the environment bamboo offers a sustainable, high yield crop that flourishes without the need to pollute the soil and run off with tons of fertilizers and pesticides. Bamboo clothing can be recycled or composted effectively thereby keeping one more thing out of your local landfill.
If all of this sounds too good to be true, use your little friend Google and do a quick bit of research. You will find hundreds of pages about each of the bullet points above. Better yet, go buy one of our shirts, shorts, trousers, whatever, and find out for yourself!
See ya in the water.