Is Bamboo A Green Product?
By WeBuyItGreen: promoting green living and fair trade
I recently had a discussion about WeBuyItGreen with a builder on another site. He saw the Tropical Bamboo Hideaway caption on our home page and said that he had recently heard that bamboo is no longer considered a green product. His remarks raised some interesting questions not only about bamboo, but also about policy regarding advertising on our site. The builder explained that the environmental advantage gained by the fact that bamboo is a rapidly renewable resource is outweighed by the environmental cost of transporting the bamboo such a long distance from where it is grown. The problem leads to difficult questions like, "How far away from its point of origin does the bamboo have to be before it is no longer green?" . . . pretty complex.
This raises the sticky issue of who decides what qualifies as "green." Our Meaning of Green page does provide guidelines regarding qualities of a green product, and as pointed out there, the issue is complicated, requiring judgments about the impact of a product upon the environment at many junctures (from cradle to grave). The position taken at WeBuyItGreen is that advertisers must be specific about explaining why their products/services are "green." But this site will not play the role of the green police or gatekeeper that determines which of these claims are valid. Most ads on this site are posted on advertising forums, and all ads on the site can be discussed in the forums. This allows people to post challenges or questions when they doubt a claim that a product or business is green. Our hope is that a Wikipedia sort of quality control will emerge if many eyes are watching, and anyone can post an opinion. Moreover, these sorts of conversations can serve an educational function for all of us. Admittedly, it will never replace a LEED or EnergyStar sort of rating system for certifying "green," but let's face it--certification is not always feasible. There are many areas in which a certification program does not yet exist. So the forum context is an alternative for achieving some quality control. There is a great deal at stake in defining "green," and I'm afraid that the power to define and apply the term is open to abuse. So on this site, the plan is to rely on the power of free expression of opinion and individual judgment to determine what qualifies as green.
Good points Jay. There is also a lot of abuse in the organic produce industry. It's really too bad that there are abusers out there, but some of it comes from people either not knowing or having different opinions, rather than not caring.
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The question of certification and standardization is an interesting one. Bamboo for example- a green product due to its renewability/sustainability, but falling out of favor because of the way people are clearing out areas to grow bamboo and fulfill the world's increasing demand for the product. As you said, a healthy debate in a public forum is a great way to help discover the answers. LEED offers standardization in building certification. KLD in Boston offers standardization in what qualifies as a "socially responsible" corporation, LEAF Certifications in Los Angeles offers standardization to the textile industry. The certification and standardization process may not be perfect, but it does attempt to provide a somewhat objective way for various industries to measure themselves. I would argue that that objectivity moves us forward in our goals to become more socially aware of how we obtain our goods and services.
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Yes, these are all good comments and I appreciate the thinking behind them.
What about the "greeness" of producing the products?
Do you have any idea what it takes to make a car?
Do you have any idea what it takes to make the tools to make the car?
It's amazing how many people see a "natural" product and assume it's a great "green" gift, yet what it took to make that object is damaging to both air, land and sea.
I truly don't see much out in the marketplace that is entirely green, and until we weed ourselves off of almost all petroleum products and take a whole new and innovative cut at recycling everything that we can, we are going to remain in deep cauca
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I think Bamboo has some good qualities as flooring and other unrefined products however making fabric out of Bamboo is labor intensive and uses somekind of acid that is not earth friendly . The shipping thing is out of control for many so called green products ie; organic cotton grown in Texas milled in North Carolina then dyed somewhere else and shipped to the buyer couldn't they put the mill and the dye plant in one place. Its better for the enviroment to buy hemp from china . Strange
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I just recently had a conversation with a 'green' builder who talked about the same issue. When does importing a green product cause more damage to the environment than not using the green product, but sourcing locally? Tough question. The good news is that there are several bamboo manufacturers in the US. Bamboo is a renewable resource. However, the popularity of bamboo is causing strain on bamboo forests. So what's the solution? Traditionally grown cotton and even organic cotton consume a ton of water to grow and considering what a scare resource water is becoming that may not be a good alternative. Plus, unless you live in cotton land, you are paying for transportation of the product as well. As far as I can see, no easy solutions.
Dagny McKinley
www.onnotextiles.com
organic apparel
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All green products doesn't have to be produced with an effect of imbalance in the environment.
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From what I've learned, bamboo can be grown in almost any climate. Environmental impact of transport could be reduced as more is grown in the U.S., which I imagine should be encouraged (responsibly). Locally grown bamboo would also help sales of other bamboo products such as wood flooring or even 'green' tradeshow displays, which is why we're looking into them as an exhibit to offer.
Datch Haven
www.AdvatumDisplays.com
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