Why Bamboo?

Bamboo is an amazing and versatile resource. It has been used for centuries in Asia for construction, transport, textiles, cooking, and medicine. Only recently has the Western world discovered how bamboo, one of the fastest growing plants in the world, can greatly benefit our lives and our environment.

Sustainable

Once harvested bamboo can replenish itself within a year - some species grow a whopping 120cm per day! And it does all this without the need for chemicals such as fertiliser and pesticide as bamboo is naturally pest resistant. Compare this to cotton or timber which must be replanted at every harvest and requires extensive spraying and watering to grow optimally.

Eco Friendly

Bamboo requires no chemicals and very little water to grow.  It absorbs more carbon dioxide from the air than cotton or timber. It also releases more oxygen into the environment which increases air quality. Cotton farming, on the other hand, requires extensive irrigation and chemical spraying - a single cotton t-shirt can require 2700 litres of water in the growing process!

Biodegradable

Bamboo is 100% natural and biodegradable. So, once you have no further use for your product you can rest easy, knowing that it will return to the Earth leaving minimal environmental impact. Plastic, on the other hand, will continue to clog up the ecosystem for the remainder of your lifetime, your children's lifetime and your grandchildren's lifetime.

Bamboo has many, many uses - some of which you can see from the products available in our store. To help you determine the best products for you personally, we have summarised some of the benefits of each application of bamboo...

Bamboo Fabric and Bamboo Clothing

• Luxuriously soft and silky
• Hypoallergenic - great for those with sensitive skin
• Breathable and thermo-regulating - keeps you cool in summer and warm in winter
• More absorbent than cotton
• UV protective
• Biodegradable

Bamboo Hardwood

• Stronger than aluminium
• More durable than oak
• Smooth and cleanly finished
• Lightweight
• Flexible
• Biodegradable

Bamboo Charcoal

• 100% natural deodoriser- helps to eliminate harmful chemicals from your home
• 100% effective - try it and see!
• Regulates humidity - it has a high density and is very porous which gives it the ability to absorb large amounts of moisture and odours
• Deters pests - both when in use in the home and when you dispose of it in the garden
• Long lasting - a lifespan of up to a year or more
• Biodegradable

What is the Oeko-Tex 100?

Oeko-Tex is a global certification that allows consumers to easily identify textile products that pose no risk to human health. 

It is now widely known that the body can be introduced to harmful chemicals through skin contact - the greater the textile-to-skin exposure, the higher the risk. During the 1990s it was discovered that textile manufacturers could be using potential harmful substances during the textile manufacturing process - and there was no way for consumers to know how the fabric they were buying had been made, and whether it still contained potential harmful substances.

And so the Oeko-Tex 100 Standard - a globally-recognised certification - was introduced. This gave consumers an easy way to identify textile products that pose no risk to human health. It is only sensible then that products like clothing and even stuffed toys be screened for the presence of these harmful substances.   Oeko-Tex® provides the standards and the tests necessary to determine this.

Textiles are screened for substances such as:

• cancer-causing dyestuffs
• formaldehyde
• heavy metals
• pesticides
• preservative ingredients like pentachlorophenol and tetrachlorophenol
• synthetic compounds and allergy-inducing dyestuffs.

The Oeko-tex certification also tests for things like pH-value, colourfastness which help to safeguard the consumers' health.

In order to be able to display the Oeko-Tex label on their products and marketing material, manufacturers have to comply with a range of tests across all stages of production - from raw materials to end products and all the processes in between. The certificate is renewable on a yearly basis but can be revoked if the manufacturer fails to comply with the Oeko-Tex standards.

How can I be sure that what I am buying is free from harmful chemicals?

Look for the Oeko “Confidence in Textiles” quality seal in your next purchase; you can be sure these products have your well-being in mind.