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From clothing to sheets, natural materials are always a good choice. For many centuries, cotton has been the number one selection amongst all consumers concerned with making natural decisions. While there's no doubt that cotton is soft and supple, many consumers are beginning to select bamboo bed sheets over cotton, and with good reason.
At first glance, cotton seems to be the best possible material to purchase. Upon delving deeper into the cotton process, first impressions of cotton can quickly become jaded. The cotton process begins naturally enough with fields filled with the white fluffy crop, but then things take a turn for the worse.
Almost all cotton fields are sprayed regularly with pesticides. These pesticides are used to prevent bugs from ruining cotton crops. In addition to eliminating all pests from cotton crops, pesticides may also eliminate your chances at remaining healthy.
Why? Many of the pesticides used to spray cotton crops are actually toxic. Additionally, the amounts of pesticides that are used to spray cotton crops also impact the land that cotton is grown in. When an entire field is soaked with pesticides, millions of people are affected.
Contaminated drinking water and ecosystem disruption are two automatic results of spraying fields with pesticides. In short, cotton is far from being the pure material that many consumers want it to be. Organic cotton is beginning to gain consumer attention (since organic cotton doesn't contain pesticides), though this material can't compete with bamboo when it comes to preserving the earth.
Bamboo products (including clothing and bed sheets) are made from bamboo plants. These plants grow naturally within certain parts of the world. Manufacturers simply harvest these plants in order to make bamboo bed sheets, t-shirts, and other products.
In stark contrast to cotton (and most other materials), bamboo plants are a renewable and sustainable resource. Why? Bamboo can grow up to 121 centimetres in 24 hours - this makes bamboo the fastest growing tree on earth. Amazingly, a bamboo plant can reach its maximum growth in three to four months.
When bamboo is cut down to make bamboo bed sheets, new bamboo simply sprouts up in its place. In short, bamboo beats all other eco-friendly materials hands down. Not only are bamboo sheets environmentally sound, they are also hypoallergenic and antibacterial.
The next time that you reach for cotton sheets, think about what you are wrapping yourself in. While bamboo bed sheets may be a relatively new creation, there's nothing more natural or eco-friendly than silky smooth bamboo.
