Bamboo Bedding, Clothing, Towels, Shoes, And Accessories
In the last 20 years a range of technologies have been developed in Europe and China to allow bamboo fiber to be used in a wide range of textiles and bedding applications.
One of the few affordable luxuries, for the time being, is to have bedding, clothing, towels, and other accessories made from either 100% bamboo yarn or a blend of bamboo, organic cotton, or hemp.
Now most people think of giant panda bears when they think of bamboo. Well, that is correct but it is not. Kind of.
Pandas eat bamboo. But there are more than 1,620 different types of bamboo types.
Both White Pandas and Red Pandas eat grass bamboo that grows in the thick undergrowth of the forests in China.
So you buying a bamboo sheets set, bamboo duvet, bamboo clothing, bamboo towels, and shoes and other bamboo accessories - for yourself and your family is not going to effect the pandas food supply in the slightest way.
Even if everybody in U.S. and Canada and all of Europe went out and bought bamboo bedding and clothing tomorrow, it still would not affect the food supplies of pandas. So don't worry about pandas.
The fact is that bamboo can be grown in most climates. It also requires little care and attention, thriving and spreading and growing exceptionally fast.
That is why it is regarded as an environmentally friendly plant. It keeps growing, needs no fertilization, herbicides, or pesticides for planting and growing. And it has exceptional properties, such as wicking (water absorption) and anti-microbial.
Is it a miracle plant?
Bamboo grows faster than cotton, reaching easily 100 feet, with one Japanese specie that grows more than 3 feet per day. In fact, bamboo is the fastest growing plant on Earth.
This high rate of growth makes bamboo very sustainable and hence environmentally friendly since with a small piece of land devoted to bamboo plantation, a farmer can harvest substantial amount of bamboo timber and can achieve a very high land use yield that reduce green house gases and help against climate change.
Bamboo's growth rate also helps against deforestation of other types of trees.
If bamboo is consumed more than other types of timber then we can slow deforestation by avoiding having to cut other trees that don't have the amazing growth rate that bamboo has.
The environmental benefits are enormous.
Bamboo does not need as much water to grow as most other trees and, most importantly to farmers and growers, bamboo has high water-use efficiency which means that this property allows it to handle drought, floods, and other severe climate changes much better than other plants, including cotton.
Cotton needs more than 2,000 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of cotton which makes cotton one of the largest user of water among all agricultural plantations. Bamboo uses far less water for cultivation and is highly efficient in its water use, hence for its ability to survive high temperatures and drastic climate and weather changes.
"bamboo is one of mother nature's most abundant, fast growing (up to 6 times faster than most trees), and human-friendly plants, which makes it a sustainable resource and eco-friendly while enhancing our quality of living. It grows organically, it has anti-microbial health benefits (antibacterial and anti-fungal), odor resistant, and no harmful chemicals (pesticides, fertilizers, chemical agents) are used to grow it. It produces more oxygen and yet absorbs CO2 and other greenhouse gasses (like carbonic acidic oxide which will make people feel drowsy with only 1% concentration in the air we breathe and with higher doses, (5%+), these gases cause dizziness, headache, visual and hearing dysfunction, and unconsciousness within a matter of minutes."
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Emma Robson, Bamboo Researcher, BambooLinens.org |
I can write about medicinal use of bamboo, or its use in construction, or even transportation. But in particular, I think bamboo fabrics used in textiles will provide the most benefit for humanity.
Bamboo fabrics are threaded from bamboo fibers which are used for products such as bedding sheets, linen, duvet covers, and textiles. You can buy a wide range of shirts, pants, dresses, suits, socks, sweaters, coats, jackets, and even undergarments that are now made from bamboo fabric.
Textiles made from bamboo fiber breathe, are soft and silky, stay odor-free longer, are elastic, and use less dyes for coloring than cotton or other fabrics, included blended fabrics.
Have you ever tried bamboo bedding, sheets, or duvet cover?
Due to its natural ingredient, called 'bamboo kun, bamboo fabric is anti-microbial and anti-fungal which means that it naturally resists insects and bacteria.
This is great both for the fact that it requires no fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides for growing and even after as a fabric it retains the ability to fight off bacteria and fungus to resist odor and stay fresh and clean longer.
Bamboo is an eco-sustainable plant and grows naturally and quickly and generates 35% more oxygen than trees and cleans the atmosphere of CO2 much faster and more efficient while it purifies the soil. It requires no fertilizer and grows so fast that it is a highly eco-friendly, sustainable, fast growing plant.
A bamboo field can grow in just 7 years in comparison to a hardwood forest that can take up to 30 years and the roots help prevent erosion and run-off as well as providing shade, a sound barrier, and wind-break.
Bamboo is at least twenty five million years old and it was likely a food source for a wide range of animals, able to grow in almost all climates, from low to very high altitude. It can grow almost anywhere. It really is a miracle plant.
Sandy Lopez is an environmentalist and enjoys writing about ecology, history, and nature. She has been a WritersViews.com member since 2009 and can be reached via our contact page, writer ID 16034.
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by: Tina Brickson -
May 19th, 2012 at 8:31pm |
| Which Website did you get if from? I looked at a lot of retail stores, like J.C. Penny and Sears but did not find much selection or options. , ... More
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by: Mary Curtis - May 19th, 2012 at 7:10pm |
| Ordered mine online. Can't wait to get it in the mail. , ... More
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posted
by: Golnaz Shamsheri - May 19th, 2012 at 6:49pm |
| We got a bedding set as a gift then I went to the mall and got towels, socks, and everything I could find in bamboo fabric. , ... More
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posted
by: Emily Sumner - May 19th, 2012 at 4:03pm |
| That is because cotton is harder in the morning, if you keep the room cooler at night. It almost becomes hard. Bamboo I imagine would be much softer due to its water wicking. , ... More
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posted
by: Rachel Anderson - May 19th, 2012 at 1:38pm |
| I got a bamboo sheet set a few months ago and the first night I slept on them, it seemed a little softer than Egyptian cotton. But when I woke up in the morning, I felt it being so much softer in the morning, if such a thing is possible. , ... More
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