bamboo rebuttal

8/8/2019 Bamboo Rebuttal

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clothingFTC Blows The Whistle On Bamboo-Based Textiles Green ClaimsBy The Author August 14, 2009 Email Post Email Post Print Print Post a commentFiled Under corporate sustainability, greenwash

Bamboo

One of the most common and unintended mistakes made by good-intentioned, yet naive, eco-enthusiasts is in their assumption that a product or process derived from a plant source is always sustainable and a better choice for the environment.While often times plant-derived products are, by comparison, more environmentally friendly than their synthetic counterparts (corn plastic vs. typical plastic for example), they can also have many negative environmental characteristics andindirect effects as well (water consumption, synthetic fertilizer and toxic pesticide usage, food price inflation, etc. in the case of corn growing). These negative environmental aspects to some green products, whether apparent or somewhat obscure, are almost always known by the companies producing them. But like any good environmental optimist (wink), these companies usually try to focus on the positive aspects of their supposed eco-friendly products.

The Anatomy Of A Greenwash

Of course focus to most means to emphasize, but to many companies trying to jump on the green product money train, focus means bury the negative and just market thepositive. So what if there are no real or substantial environmentally positiveaspects to a companys green product; what then? Well, make up some positive greenclaims and no one will ever know the difference right? Wrong.

Though greenwashing is still rampant in the marketplace, it often times is so ridiculous and overtly obvious, that even the most remotely environmentally awareconsumer can usually call BS on a green claim that just isnt true. However, there afew companies and products out there who make a concerted effort to be more than just obscure about their products environmentally beneficial claims and when th

is occurs, its the task of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to take notice andrespond.Bamboo Isnt As Green As Some Companies Lead You To Believe

Bamboo-based products have become all the rage in the green marketplace due to bamboos rapidly renewable nature as well its ability to be manufactured into all sorts of different types of products and materials. Nowhere has there been a bigger increase in the manufacture and sale of bamboo-based products than in the textile industry. Bamboo sheets, towels, shirts, rugs, and virtually any other fabric type product are mainstays of any green housewares store and have even begunshowing up at places like Target and Walmart.

Though the rapidly renewable nature of bamboo does give some green credentials to bamboo-based textile products, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Tuesdaythat any other environmental claims made about bamboo-based textile products are essentially outright lies. The FTC focused specifically on four companies (Pure Bamboo, Bamboosa, Jonano, and Mad Mod) who actively marketed their products asbeing made in an environmentally friendly manner, naturally antimicrobial, and biodegradable. The FTC release reads as follows:

The companies falsely claim that their rayon clothing and other textile productsare 100% bamboo fiber. They market them under such names as ecoKashmere,Pure Bamboo,Bamboo Comfort, and BambooBaby. Rayon is a man-made fiber created from the cellulose found in plants and trees and processed with a harsh toxic chemical that releases hazardous air pollutants. Any plant or tree could be used as the cellulose s

ource including bamboo but the fiber that is created is rayon.

The complaints also allege that these four companies make a number of other green


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claims about their clothing and textile products, none of which are true or substantiated. All four companies claim their products retain the bamboo plants antimicrobial properties. The settling companies Jonno, Mad Mod, and Pure Bamboo alsoclaim that their products are made using environmentally-friendly manufacturingprocesses, and both Pure Bamboo and Bamboosa make unqualified claims that theirproducts are biodegradable, and that they will completely break down and returnto the elements found in nature in a reasonably short period of time after custo

mary disposal. Rayon products are not biodegradable because they will not breakdown in a reasonably short time after customary disposal. Most clothing and textiles are disposed of either by recycling or sending to a landfill. Neither method results in quick biodegradation

Rayon also does not retain any natural antimicrobial properties of the bamboo plant. The rayon manufacturing process, which involves dissolving the plant sourcein harsh chemicals, eliminates any such natural properties of the bamboo plant.

Remember that while these four companies, knowingly or unknowingly, falsified claims about their bamboo textile products, there are many other companies who donot. So dont think this makes bamboo-based textile products entirely bad and whol

lyungreen

as they certainly are anything but when compared to other fabrics suchas conventionally raised cotton, silk and polyester.

The Good: The FTC is finally calling out some of the most egregious greenwashersin the marketplace and helping to better educate the general public on what tolook for when selecting green products.

The Bad: The FTC has still got a very long way to go in addressing the enormousamount of greenwashing going on in the marketplace.

The Bottom-Line: Though the green claims being debunked by the FTC are indeed not true of bamboo-based textiles, there are still a few aspects of bamboo-based textiles that are green and make bamboo a relatively greener fabric choice than s

ay conventionally grown and harvested cotton.

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*bamboobonnie [Moderator] 1 year agoBonnie from Jonano says...

Recently the FTC developed new labeling guidelines for the organic and natural product market including bamboo textiles. Our company, Sami Designs and thebrands we produce including Jonano along with several other companies at the forefront of the eco textile and eco fashion world who work in bamboo were asked to ensure that our labeling and marketing to conform with these new guidelines. Jonano immediately signed on, agreeing to conform to the new labeling guidelines,

while other companies are going to fight some of the specific new FTC guidelines that do not jive with the extensive testing and data widely available and accepted by research and testing facilities, and universities worldwide.


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Here are the facts:2005 Sami Designs began researching textiles and wrote a 90 page white pap

er on antimicrobial textiles including bamboo, chitin, alginin, and hemp. Testing data is included from several sources showing antimicrobial factors for both bamboo and hemp and biodegradability of bamboo crops and hemp crops and chitin/rayon fabrics. These quantitative tests were performed by Japan Textile Inspection

Association, SWICOFIL, China Industrial Testing Center, Bambrotex.

2006 the Jonano Brand began designing marketing and selling bamboo and hemp clothing. Characteristics such as grown without the use of pesticides, produced in a "closed loop system" that recirculates and captures agents used to convert the plant into fiber, "antimicrobial" were used in our marketing. All of these"claims" were due diligently researched and substantiated in writing by independent sources, textile manufacturing agencies and textile research organizations.

2007 bamboo organic certification criteria was released by the FDA. Jonanochose to select only certified organic bamboo for our production and could thenuse the label "certified organic bamboo."

Beginning in 2008 Jonano switched our labeling of the organic bamboo content on our clothing production from "organic bamboo" to "viscose from organic bamboo," after we received information that the government was ready to present labeling guidelines for this new eco textile that might require this switch shortly. Prior to this time no FDA guidelines for bamboo textiles were available and this fiber and fabric was labeled "bamboo" as had been accepted by the US CustomsDepartment during importation and customs clearance for all Sami Designs products since we began.

In 2009 Sami Designs received a mailing from the FTC asking that a settlement agreement be reached that Sami Designs would conform to the new FTC regulations and standards. We signed on immediately and went over all of our marketing materials with a fine tooth comb in order to ensure that we were in compliance wi

th these new labeling and marketing standards.

As for the claim that Sami Designs and our brands misrepresented our clothing products in our labels, no standardization was available until after we began using the term viscose from bamboo on our clothing. We are compliant with thenew FTC labeling standards and never tried to mislead.

As new eco textiles continue to be developed and brought to market, the challenge of this task includes working with agencies in developing labeling and organic certification standards, obtaining new organic certifications for these crops, and continually working towards better and safer ways to produce textiles.All textile production requires processing of crops into fibers to create fabrics that can be comfortably worn and enjoyed for years to come. Our goal is and has always been to develop great eco textiles that make a positive impact on theenvironment, on the farmers and growers, on our manufacturing and cooperative production facilities and most importantly on the lives of the people who choose to select organic fashion for their wardrobe.

Our company makes available detailed information that describes the process of turning hardy organically grown bamboo into fiber that we select to createour viscose from organic bamboo blends sold under the Jonano ecoKashmere Collection. If anyone is interested in obtaining our testing data, simply write me through the contact us pages on the jonano.com website.

We are currently working on new eco textiles including corn blends, peacesilks and more. As always, technologies and scientific advancements precede gove

rnmental standardization. The end result of developing new and improved eco textiles, we envision, will be a world where fewer pesticides and fertilizers are used on textile crops, safer methods for producing textile fibers and fabrics cont


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inue to be developed and organic clothing and eco textiles continue to become more available.

Although Jonano will not be participating in any fight with the FTC, we support the work of the companies who will be fighting to secure acceptance of theextensive research, testing and documentation and research that supports emerging new eco textiles so that we can all continue to expand the world of eco fashion together.

With Metta,

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