Super Eco

Photo credit: andres_ol, SXC

From The Dept. of We Told You So: So-called "bamboo" fabric is actually man-made rayon, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is clamping down on greenwashing retailers trying to sell it as an eco-friendly alternative. The FTC has warned 78 retailers (including big guys Target, Wal-Mart, Amazon.com and Bed Bath and Beyond) to stop labeling and advertising rayon fabric as "bamboo."

"The truth is, most 'bamboo' textile products, if not all, really are rayon, which typically is made using environmentally toxic chemicals in a process that emits hazardous pollutants into the air," explains an FTC business alert. "While different plants, including bamboo, can be used as a source material to create rayon, there’s no trace of the original plant in the finished rayon product.“ Concludes David C. Vladeck, director of the agency’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, “Rayon is rayon, even if bamboo has been used somewhere along the line in the manufacturing process.”

If "bamboo" fabric isn't really "bamboo" at all, where did the so-called "bamboo-ness" come from? Chemically manufactured bamboo fiber is actually a regenerated cellulose fiber, similar to rayon or modal. Its manufacture relies on hydrolysis alkalization with multi-phase bleaching, which is potentially hazardous both to human health and the environment and definitely neither sustainable nor environmentally supportable. Many bamboo fabric companies attempt to offset this appalling situation by obtaining an ISO 14001 certification, showing the factory has put in place some environmental guidelines to green its practices.

But even if there were actual bamboo content in "bamboo" rayon (and make no mistake—there's not), let us pop one final bubble. Bamboo's popularly heralded natural antibacterial, anti-fungal and deodorizing properties? A myth. Even writers at the LA Times Blogs have been sucked into these pretty claims. In fact, bamboo's anti-bacterial claim was recently repudiated by research conducted by Colorado State University chemists. As it turns out, anti-bacterial qualities are not unique to bamboo fabric at all. It was just more of the ol' bamboozle, all along.