Is your bamboo organically grown?

Yes, our bamboo fiber is made with Certified Organic Bamboo and you can see our certifications and read about them here on our website. The farm where the bamboo is grown is certified by OCIA International and the bamboo crops are certified by the USDA Organic Seal.

Your bamboo clothing and baby products are made in the USA, but where is your bamboo grown?

Our bamboo is grown on managed farms/plantations in Southeastern China. Since all of the bamboo fiber is processed in China and there is an abundance of bamboo growing in China, we use the bamboo grown there.

Bamboosa imports the fiber from China and completes the manufacturing processes (spinning, knitting, dyeing, and sewing) in South Carolina. Occasionally, we buy yarn from China, as opposed to fiber, and then complete the manufacturing of our bamboo clothing and baby line in S.C.

I have read that they are clear cutting old growth forest in China to make way for more bamboo farms. Is that true?

We have found absolutely no evidence of any cutting of timber to plant bamboo. In fact, we have found that in 2007 the forest area in China grew by 12.84 million acres or the equivalent of nearly 2.3 billion trees. On January 14, 2008, China announced plans to plant more than 2.5 billion trees in 2008 covering an additional 13.09 million acres. The National Forest Restoration Program of China also has strict protection in place for existing forest land.

We have heard there is more than one type of bamboo fiber. If that is true, what are the different types and do you use all of them? If not, which types do you use?

There are two main types of bamboo fiber. The first is usually described as mechanical and the second as chemical. Very little of the mechanical fiber is in circulation and is not widely used. The fiber produced chemically is what we use and what most companies are using at this time.

What chemicals are used in the processing of your bamboo fiber and are they hazardous?

The main chemical used in the processing is sodium hydroxide also known as caustic soda. Caustic soda is one of the most widely used chemicals in the world. It is used in food production, soap making, manufacturing of bio diesel, production of paper, and is used on nearly all cotton fabrics, including organic cotton, during wet processing. Caustic soda is approved for use on textiles under the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).

While caustic soda is a strong chemical it poses no health hazard if used and disposed of properly.

Read more here ... Bamboo Fiber Processing.