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(NaturalNews) Bamboo clothing is breaking into prestigious department stores. Legwear, underwear, socks and bodywear are now on sale there. One company producing these claims that the clothing is made with organic cotton and bamboo fibres and that the range, called Bodysoft, is all about sustainability (www.ambra.net.au) .

Previously bamboo clothing had limited distribution such as online; the majority of stores were wary of stocking such products. One company where you can buy bamboo clothing online is Bamboo body (www.bamboobody.com.au) which makes its range from 95% bamboo and 5% spandex.

Why Bamboo?

Bamboo is attractive because it grows quickly and is resistant to insects and disease. Unlike trees, when you cut bamboo it does not need to be replanted because the roots stay in place and the plant regrows. The plant then matures in around 3 years which is much faster than trees.

The other benefit of bamboo is that it contains an antibacterial agent and pesticide called 'Bamboo Kun' making pesticides and chemicals unnecessary. But just as important, this agent remains in the fibre after processing the bamboo. The clothing is then anti-bacterial, anti-microbial, anti-fungal, and odour resistant.

There are reports that bamboo uses less water than some other crops and that it actually improves the quality of water as well as the soil. It has the ability to filter excess phosphorous, nitrogen and heavy metals. Bamboo absorbs 5 times more carbon dioxide and releases 35% more oxygen than trees. This ability makes bamboo a very useful plant in combating global warming.

According to Bamboo Body, bamboo benefits rural and poor communities because pesticides and chemicals are not needed, and because of the variety of uses. Compare this to cotton which uses more insecticide than any other agricultural crop in the world. Because of this, workers are exposed to higher risks of poisoning amongst other risks. In addition, the environment suffers.

In buildings, bamboo is used for floors, fencing, panels, scaffolding, see examples at (www.styleplantation.com.au) , and furniture, for an example see (www.wambamboo.com.au) .

Bamboo has uses in the kitchen: kitchen utensils, paper, textiles, musical instruments, for variety of uses see (http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery) .

Despite bamboo's appeal, there are concerns that countries are destroying forests to plant bamboo, threatening species of wild bamboo and wildlife that depend on them. In some areas, bamboo grows in sensitive environmental areas or in protected forests. With demand for bamboo, these areas could suffer.

Retailers advertise bamboo as eco-friendly. We have to ask what that means – is the bamboo grown in strict organic conditions? How is the bamboo processed? Are toxic dyes used? In general, bamboo is environmentally better than cotton, better for communities and has a great range of uses.

Other bamboo links:

(http://www.world-bamboo.org/)

(http://www.americanbamboo.org/)

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