Bamboo Clothing

I have been on my natural living journey for over a decade. I always knew clothing was a big drain on the planet but I am just now realizing how clothing can impact our health as well.

I try to buy secondhand clothes as much as possible as this is the greatest way to reduce your clothing waste but I'm not able to thrift my entire wardrobe and if you've been thrift shopping lately then you know, it can end up costing just as much as new clothes- I hope that trend changes! 

I've been seeing more and more how microplastics are accumulating in our bodies and one of the culprits is our clothing, ew. According to the Plastic Soup Foundation 33% of household dust is microplastics from textiles that we then inhale into our lungs or ingest into our bodies. Excuse me while I go vacuum again so I don't cringe while my baby is crawling on the floor and putting everything in his mouth. 

When I have to buy something new I am working towards buying more natural fabrics like cotton and bamboo. Any synthetic material is like to contain microplastics. I wasn't able to find an exact number on how much clothing contains microplastics but it's safe to say quite a bit of clothing does. The only way to avoid it is to buy clothing made of natural materials like cotton, bamboo, linen or silk in the highest percentage you can find.

I am still on the hunt for 100% cotton clothing that is comfortable and affordable. It's hard to find for women and can be itchy. Enter bamboo 🎍🐼 

I am so excited I found this. I was having an eczema flare up on my legs from all the time spent sitting and nursing my baby and wearing bamboo helped immensely. It's soft, lightweight and the brand I found has pockets! It honestly feels like you aren't wearing anything. I've donated any bottoms that don't have pockets because I'm a person too (men aren't the only ones who need pockets!) and I need all the help I can get toting three boys around.

I looked around for awhile and ended up ordering two pairs from WiWi. I basically live in them now and have been putting them in with our non-toxic laundry every few days with the rest of my families laundry so I always have a pair ready to go. I am 5'0 and relatively petite and I ordered a size small. They are a bit loose but overall fit well. I'd stick with your normal size or maybe size down if you want a more fitted look. I got the black lounger joggers (smaller elastic waste on top and bottom) and purple joggers shown below.

They came with a 5% off your next purchase. I will be buying another couple pairs of pants and a few pairs of shorts to get me through the summer. There are lots of color and style options to choose from! I ended up with purple pants because they were slightly cheaper at the time and I'm always a little wary buying from bands I haven't tried before. I'm usually not into muted tones for my bottoms but these pants are so comfortable I don't even care 😂

Bamboo clothing isn't just more comfortable it's better for the environment. Bamboo grows quickly without pesticides and less water making it a sustainable choice. Most bamboo clothing on the market is actually made of bamboo viscose (that's what these are made of) which is made of bamboo cellulose because it is softer and cheaper to make. 

Creating bamboo viscose fabric involves using some chemicals that aren't good for the environment but everything is a give and take. It's definitely better than synthetic materials like polyester. The benefits of growing the bamboo itself vs cotton (long growing season, more vulnerable to pests = pesticides and more water needed to grow) make it a better choice in my book.

Also, those microplastics I talked about ingesting earlier? They also get washed away in your laundry water and end up in our waterways and all over the planet. It really should be a global emergency at this point. It can be really defeating to learn all this but if everyone took a few small steps to reducing microplastics in their clothing and buying used clothes when possible we all could make a big difference. 

Bamboo isn't just for pandas if you're looking for an affordable, comfortable, cute and more sustainable clothing option. 5 starts, highly recommend!