Comments on: Ask Tara – Are bamboo and soy eco-friendly fibers?

By: 5 ways to celebrate Earth Day | Blonde Chicken Boutique

5 ways to celebrate Earth Day | Blonde Chicken Boutique — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:16:22 +0000

[...] 5. Rethink bamboo [...]

By: Leslie

Leslie — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 23:57:08 +0000

Very interesting post, and I share your hesitancy to use bamboo fibre due to the processes used to create it. One question for you: how did you find out that soy undergoes a similar multi-stage bleaching process? I've been searching for info on soy fibre manufacturing for a while now, and would love to find more sources of information about it… thanks!

By: Leslie

Leslie — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 18:57:08 +0000

By: blondechicken

blondechicken — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:25:15 +0000

AH! Most excellent point! Sometimes I forget that they need us. I mean, I'm so tempted to just opt-out that I forget that by buying the nearly-good stuff, we can encourage more perfectly-good stuff.

Thank you *so* much for sharing that perspective!

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By: knitgrrl

knitgrrl — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 17:19:01 +0000

A slightly lengthier version of what I was trying to get across on Twitter: yes, they may not be the *most* eco-friendly (and, by the way, since so much of the processing technology is proprietary, ANY answer you get about how these fibers are processed is going to be somewhat vague if not outright evasive), but I see it more in terms of market demand. If we like, use, and create a market for these fibers, we can also push demand towards additional certifications, etc (so, for example, certifications on where the bamboo is harvested, how things are grown, etc). We're only just now getting to that stage with food in this country so I think fiber = a long way off.

But making your preferences known certainly helps!

Meanwhile, barring all external obligations, I would be just as happy as you to either support ultra-local farmers and small, indie producers instead of using some of these commercially available yarns, but I also think that *in* using them, we help create a broader, more diverse marketplace of fibers. After all, if the commercial side of the business dies, good luck getting the fiber for someone like Cloudlover to dye... it's all interconnected!