Out of the 3 pillars of YouBamboo, I've gone into detail on the comfort and style sides, meaning that only our sustainability mission is left undiscussed. The reason I have left this until last is that it is undeniably the foundation for the company.
I rave on about the importance of the environment to everyone I know (and quite a lot to people I don't), and if you have any interest in exactly why I brought the YOU Movement into the world, I have written a whole other blog post about that here. However, in these short paragraphs I want to go into slightly more detail about why exactly I believe switching to our bamboo range is a much better option for you if you're looking to add more sustainability to your life, as everyone should be.
To make this easier to follow, I will break it up into long bullet points:
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Global Warming
- The Problem: The biggest environmental issue of them all, global warming is caused by greenhouse gases trapping heat in the atmosphere and causing our planet's general climate to increase, disrupting weather and destroying habitats. Everyone is aware that carbon dioxide is largely to blame for this, but so is nitrous oxide (a dangerous gas that is commonly produced when nitrogen-based fertilisers and pesticides mix with soil). Whilst CO2 accounts for far more of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions, nitrous oxide has a heat retaining capacity nearly 300 times greater than that of the most infamous gas around, meaning it can contribute just as much to global warming.
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The YouBamboo Solution: If there is one plant around that can help tackle this issue then it's bamboo. This is for 2 main reasons:
- No need for fertilisers or pesticides. Because bamboo grows so quickly, it needs to be able to protect itself from its environment. The way it does so is by producing its own antimicrobial bio-agent, called 'bamboo kun'. This acts as a natural pesticide and protects the grass, meaning there is no need for harmful agricultural chemicals, as it is also able to grow without any need for fertilisers.
- Bamboo is amazing at storing CO2. Bamboo can absorb incredible amounts of carbon dioxide and in return can release around 35% more oxygen than trees! The reason for this amazing ability is that the bamboo can be harvested without uprooting the plant, meaning we can keep the vast majority of this greenhouse gas in the soil, stabilising climate sustainability.
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Fast Fashion:
- The Problem: Today, the world has been overcome with a desperate desire to have the next new look. At the same time, many clothes are being produced with cheap materials, which end up lasting for all of a year or less. Combined, these factors cause millions upon millions of pounds worth of clothes to end up in landfill every single year (£140 million is the estimated amount) which further contributes towards issues with global sustainability.
- The YouBamboo Solution: We produce high-quality clothes, made from durable and long-lasting fibres. Not only are our designs the kind that you want to wear all-day everyday, they don't require as much washing (due to their antibacterial and odour reducing capacities) which means they last longer because they aren't being weakened in your washing machine. In addition, because our fabrics stay stronger for longer, YouBamboo clothes make for great hand-me-downs in the long-term, allowing us to reuse and recycle our wardrobes.
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Water wastage:
- The Problem: In the world today, we use vast amounts of water for many different reasons, a lot of which comes in the form of clothes production (growing or making fabrics) or clothes maintenance (washing). One average load in a washing machine uses around 65 litres of water (which is how much an average human should drink in just under 3 weeks). Considering there are many communities in the world that struggle to access this water, it's a real issue that we use so much in daily life for many unimportant reasons.
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The YouBamboo Solution: Our bamboo clothes save on water for 2 main reasons:
- They don't need to be washed as much. As we mentioned earlier, products that contain a good amount of bamboo do not need to be washed as often as other clothes. This is because of its antibacterial properties, that we discussed earlier, which help to defeat the bacteria that cause odours. Therefore, we can wear more and wash less, improving our personal sustainability with every wash we don't put on.
- Bamboo takes far less water to grow. Bamboo is very much able to thrive in areas with poorly hydrated soil, and this is because its roots are able to store water better and are able to use it more efficiently. This is highly impressive in comparison to many other fabrics used in clothing worldwide, including cotton which requires more than 3 times as much water to grow. Thus, by buying products that have substantial levels of bamboo in them, you are buying into a market that saves millions of litres of water every single year! With this fact in mind, we are planning on massively cutting down the amount of cotton we use in our products, and replacing it with more sustainable materials, predominantly our beloved bamboo.
