when is bamboo actually man-made fiber?
Sustainability is today’s corporate buzzword, and everyone’s new favorite marketing tool. However, if your company is making unsubstantiated claims about how environmentally friendly your products are, beware the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Four companies found this out the hard way last week when the FTC charged them with violating the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, also known as the Textile Act. The companies, Jonäno, Mad Mod, Pure Bamboo, and Bamboosa, had claimed that their products were made with 100 percent bamboo fiber, and were touting the antimicrobial and biodegradable benefits of their garments. According to the FTC, the fibers are little more than rayon, which “…is a man-made fiber created from the cellulose found in plants and trees and processed with a harsh chemical that releases hazardous air pollutants. Any plant or tree could be used as the cellulose source—including bamboo—but the fiber that is created is rayon.”
Though the companies charged with making false claims may have produced the rayon using cellulose from bamboo, the process of turning cellulose into rayon would dissolve the bamboo plant material and nullify any natural antimicrobial benefits. Additionally, rayon is not a biodegradable fabric, so the advertising claims of the offending companies are misleading and inaccurate.
Professor of Textile Engineering at Philadelphia University, Chris Pastore says, “Bamboo is a natural candidate for greenwashed claims. It bears a physical resemblance to flax, the plant used to make linen through a simple process that leaves its natural fibers largely intact. Flax looks like a reed and bamboo looks like a giant reed. People imagine it’s the same process. But to make rayon, bamboo or any cellulose source it is typically ground up, dissolved and process into a viscous liquid with chemicals such as the highly toxic carbon disulfide. It is much more energy intensive and much more polluting.” Pastore states.”
Of the four companies labeled in the charges brought by the FTC, three have settled, agreeing to cease their “false” advertising. In this new era of green claims, consumers need to be able to trust that the products they purchase are indeed environmentally friendly. The FTC has issued a consumer alert, “Have you been bamboozled” to educate and provide information to consumers on why these bamboo claims are inaccurate.
The FTC is clearly sending a message to companies; they should be prepared to authenticate their environmental claims. If a company cannot, they run the risk of being labeled a “greenwasher” and losing any environmental credibility they might have had. In our next post, we will examine how to prevent greenwash, thereby avoiding the FTC’s scrutiny, and helping to retain environmentally conscious consumers.
[...] the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charged four companies last month with deceptive labeling and advertising, there has been quite a bit of attention paid to [...]
[...] In our last couple posts, we have taken a look at specific instances of greenwashing here and here. Today we hope to give more examples and the define of [...]
I’m digging this POV. Haven’t really thought critically about the dynamics of how marketing is playing such a big role in the eco movement.
Another case of not everything is as it seems. Bamboo however can sequester harmful CO2 out of the atmosphere faster than any other plant, so plant more bamboo!
[...] When Is Bamboo Actually a Man-made Fiber? | AirDye® – Good for Business blog.airdye.com/goodforbusiness/2009/08/19/when-is-bamboo-actually-man-made-fiber – view page – cached In August 2009, the FTC charged four supposedly organic clothing manufacturers with greenwashing. Turns out the companies' bamboo items are less than eco-friendly. — From the page [...]