clothing

FTC Blows The Whistle On Bamboo-Based Textiles Green Claims

By The Author · August 14, 2009 · Email Post Email Post · Print Print · Post a comment
Filed Under corporate sustainability, greenwash
Bamboo
One of the most common and unintended mistakes made by good-intentioned, yet nai
ve, eco-enthusiasts is in their assumption that a product or process derived fro
m a plant source is always sustainable and a better choice for the environment.
While often times plant-derived products are, by comparison, more environmentall
y friendly than their synthetic counterparts (corn plastic vs. typical plastic f
or example), they can also have many negative environmental characteristics and
indirect effects as well (water consumption, synthetic fertilizer and toxic pest
icide usage, food price inflation, etc. in the case of corn growing). These nega
tive environmental aspects to some green products , whether apparent or somewhat ob
scure, are almost always known by the companies producing them. But like any goo
d environmental optimist (wink), these companies usually try to focus on the posit
ive 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 o
n the green product money train, focus means bury the negative and just market the
positive. So what if there are no real or substantial environmentally positive
aspects to a company s green product; what then? Well, make up some positive green
claims and no one will ever know the difference right? Wrong.
Though greenwashing is still rampant in the marketplace, it often times is so ri
diculous and overtly obvious, that even the most remotely environmentally aware
consumer can usually call BS on a green claim that just isn t true. However, there a
few companies and products out there who make a concerted effort to be more tha
n just obscure about their products environmentally beneficial claims and when th
is occurs, it s the task of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to take notice and
respond.
Bamboo Isn t As Green As Some Companies Lead You To Believe
Bamboo-based products have become all the rage in the green marketplace due to b
amboo s rapidly renewable nature as well its ability to be manufactured into all s
orts of different types of products and materials. Nowhere has there been a bigg
er increase in the manufacture and sale of bamboo-based products than in the tex
tile industry. Bamboo sheets, towels, shirts, rugs, and virtually any other fabr
ic type product are mainstays of any green housewares store and have even begun
showing up at places like Target and Walmart.
Though the rapidly renewable nature of bamboo does give some green credentials t
o bamboo-based textile products, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Tuesday
that any other environmental claims made about bamboo-based textile products ar
e essentially outright lies. The FTC focused specifically on four companies (Pur
e Bamboo, Bamboosa, Jonano, and Mad Mod) who actively marketed their products as
being made in an environmentally friendly manner, naturally antimicrobial, and b
iodegradable . The FTC release reads as follows:
The companies falsely claim that their rayon clothing and other textile products
are 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 cellulos
e found in plants and trees and processed with a harsh toxic chemical that relea
ses 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
claims about their clothing and textile products, none of which are true or subs
tantiated. All four companies claim their products retain the bamboo plant s antim
icrobial properties. The settling companies Jonäno, Mad Mod, and Pure Bamboo also
claim that their products are made using environmentally-friendly manufacturing
processes, and both Pure Bamboo and Bamboosa make unqualified claims that their
products are biodegradable, and that they will completely break down and return
to 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 break
down in a reasonably short time after customary disposal. Most clothing and text
iles are disposed of either by recycling or sending to a landfill. Neither metho
d results in quick biodegradation
Rayon also does not retain any natural antimicrobial properties of the bamboo pl
ant. The rayon manufacturing process, which involves dissolving the plant source
in harsh chemicals, eliminates any such natural properties of the bamboo plant.
Remember that while these four companies, knowingly or unknowingly, falsified cl
aims about their bamboo textile products, there are many other companies who do
not. So don t think this makes bamboo-based textile products entirely bad and whol
ly ungreen as they certainly are anything but when compared to other fabrics such
as conventionally raised cotton, silk and polyester.
The Good: The FTC is finally calling out some of the most egregious greenwashers
in the marketplace and helping to better educate the general public on what to
look for when selecting green products.
The Bad: The FTC has still got a very long way to go in addressing the enormous
amount of greenwashing going on in the marketplace.
The Bottom-Line: Though the green claims being debunked by the FTC are indeed no
t true of bamboo-based textiles, there are still a few aspects of bamboo-based t
extiles that are green and make bamboo a relatively greener fabric choice than s
ay conventionally grown and harvested cotton.
OUR SUSTAINABILITY RATING:
YOUR SUSTAINABILITY RATING:
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Rating: 3.2/5 (10 votes cast)
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bamboobonnie [Moderator] 1 year ago
Bonnie from Jonano says...
Recently the FTC developed new labeling guidelines for the organic and nat
ural product market including bamboo textiles. Our company, Sami Designs and the
brands we produce including Jonano along with several other companies at the fo
refront of the eco textile and eco fashion world who work in bamboo were asked t
o ensure that our labeling and marketing to conform with these new guidelines. J
onano immediately signed on, agreeing to conform to the new labeling guidelines,
while other companies are going to fight some of the specific new FTC guideline
s that do not jive with the extensive testing and data widely available and acce
pted by research and testing facilities, and universities worldwide.
 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. Testin
g data is included from several sources showing antimicrobial factors for both b
amboo and hemp and biodegradability of bamboo crops and hemp crops and chitin/ra
yon 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 hem
p clothing. Characteristics such as grown without the use of pesticides, produce
d in a "closed loop system" that recirculates and captures agents used to conver
t the plant into fiber, "antimicrobial" were used in our marketing. All of these
"claims" were due diligently researched and substantiated in writing by indepen
dent sources, textile manufacturing agencies and textile research organizations.
2007 bamboo organic certification criteria was released by the FDA. Jonano
chose to select only certified organic bamboo for our production and could then
use the label "certified organic bamboo."
Beginning in 2008 Jonano switched our labeling of the organic bamboo conte
nt on our clothing production from "organic bamboo" to "viscose from organic bam
boo," after we received information that the government was ready to present lab
eling 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 th
is fiber and fabric was labeled "bamboo" as had been accepted by the US Customs
Department during importation and customs clearance for all Sami Designs product
s since we began.
In 2009 Sami Designs received a mailing from the FTC asking that a settlem
ent agreement be reached that Sami Designs would conform to the new FTC regulati
ons and standards. We signed on immediately and went over all of our marketing m
aterials 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 cloth
ing products in our labels, no standardization was available until after we bega
n using the term viscose from bamboo on our clothing. We are compliant with the
new FTC labeling standards and never tried to mislead.
As new eco textiles continue to be developed and brought to market, the ch
allenge of this task includes working with agencies in developing labeling and o
rganic certification standards, obtaining new organic certifications for these c
rops, and continually working towards better and safer ways to produce textiles.
All textile production requires processing of crops into fibers to create fabri
cs that can be comfortably worn and enjoyed for years to come. Our goal is and h
as always been to develop great eco textiles that make a positive impact on the
environment, on the farmers and growers, on our manufacturing and cooperative pr
oduction facilities and most importantly on the lives of the people who choose t
o select organic fashion for their wardrobe.
Our company makes available detailed information that describes the proces
s of turning hardy organically grown bamboo into fiber that we select to create
our viscose from organic bamboo blends sold under the Jonano ecoKashmere Collect
ion. If anyone is interested in obtaining our testing data, simply write me thro
ugh the contact us pages on the jonano.com website.
We are currently working on new eco textiles including corn blends, peace
silks and more. As always, technologies and scientific advancements precede gove
rnmental standardization. The end result of developing new and improved eco text
iles, we envision, will be a world where fewer pesticides and fertilizers are us
ed on textile crops, safer methods for producing textile fibers and fabrics cont
inue to be developed and organic clothing and eco textiles continue to become mo
re available.
Although Jonano will not be participating in any fight with the FTC, we su
pport the work of the companies who will be fighting to secure acceptance of the
extensive research, testing and documentation and research that supports emergi
ng new eco textiles so that we can all continue to expand the world of eco fashi
on together.
With Metta,