Environment

How can wearing Royal Bamboo contribute to reducing deforestation, pesticide use and water wastage?

Deforestation is the removal of large areas of forests for space or timber. This leaves the remaining ground is in very poor condition, leading to soil erosion and the subsequent loss of no less than 130 species of plants and animals per day! Bamboo can reduce deforestation and the resulting effects. If communities are able to focus on commercial bamboo plantations, they can turn away from having to destroy their local forests. This prevents the cutting down of indigenous trees and provides a good alternative resource for the textile industry.

Bamboo crops require far less acreage than planting cotton plants, they reduce CO2 emissions and they generate 35% more oxygen than their equivalent quantity in trees. Apart from textile, bamboo can replace the use of wood as a resource in almost any industry involving paper, furniture, charcoal or construction materials.

The purpose of pesticides and insecticides is to kill and prevent the reproduction of living organisms by destroying the essential biological processes which make life possible. The problem is that pesticides not only affect pests but also humans. Some chemicals have been linked to causing cancer but are still allowed. Bamboo can reduce pesticide usage considerably. Bamboo is antibacterial by nature as it contains a bio-agent called ‘kun’, which resists the growth of bacteria on bamboo and bamboo fabrics. This is one of the main advantages of using bamboo as a base material for textile. Stopping pesticide use is not only beneficial for the farmers, fish, birds and other living organisms who are dependent on the forests and rivers, but also for people like you who wear the clothing and wonder how this clothing is being made.

70% of our Earth is covered with water; 2% of that water is freshwater, and no less than 80% of that freshwater is locked away in ice caps and glaciers. A world population of 7,5 billion, therefore, is dependent on 0.4% of the water available on Earth. Bamboo can help to reduce water usage in the textile industry. Bamboo grows and survives using water from natural rainfall and therefore does not need to be irrigated. Bamboo thrives in the most diverse climates. You can find it in both cold mountain regions and tropical rainforests. Bamboo retains twice as much water as trees. This ensures that bamboo is better suited to survive extreme weather conditions such as prolonged drought. Compared to the thirsty cotton plant, bamboo is unbeatable in this respect Just by wearing a bamboo shirt instead of a cotton shirt, you will have saved 3000 litres of freshwater. Bamboo’s antibacterial qualities, which prevent odours from forming as quickly, ensures that you will have to wash your shirt less often, which in turn means that you will be saving even more water.