EcoZeal

Could bamboo become the next hot cash crop in North America?

Yesterday we featured the first half of our exclusive interview with Dan Keesey, bamboo fiber expert and owner of the bamboo furniture company EcoDesignz  and its sister store, BambooClothes.com (home of the Spun Bamboo® brand of clothes.)

Dan has been an instrumental figure in bringing the benefits of bamboo to the United States and raising awareness of this eco-friendly fiber. In the second half of our conversation he comments on the future of bamboo in the U.S. – and offers his opinion on whether bamboo is really antimicrobial.

EZ: Are you familiar with any U.S. bamboo plantations? Do you have any plans to utilize U.S. bamboo in the future?

KEESEY: I’d love to, but it’s a slow process. Farmers are so used to growing cotton and tobacco. Bamboo’s a lot better for the land, but they’re not going to switch over unless there’s a profit. The demand has to be built up first, before people will make the investment to grow it here.

EZ: What about processing? I know you said there are just a few factories in China that have the patent to make the stuff.

KEESEY: The major process fiber, yes - but I don’t know if that’s a true international patent. You can do the mechanical processing anywhere. And you can use it to make all kinds of stuff, furniture, wood floors, there’s lots of stuff you could do in this country. There’s a lot of hearsay about bamboo’s properties and processing. It’s complex. People need to learn that the more demand there is, the more we can take it seriously.

EZ: What are bamboo’s climactic requirements? How far north could you grow it in the U.S.?

KEESEY: Timber bamboo will grow in virtually every zone in the U.S., except for a small area, like in North Dakota, where the winters are just too harsh.
It’s really underutilized in the U.S. We’re just missing the boat on it – hopefully that will change.

EZ: Do you use the same species for both fiber and furniture?

KEESEY: For the most part, yes. There are lots of species of bamboo, over 1,200. For fiber and timber we use the giant Moso species – it’s not the same kind that panda bears eat.
It’s used for paper as well. Bamboo paper is expensive, but it’s definitely out there. We have some paper towels – they’re bamboo fiber towelettes, actually – that we include as an extra with our clothing orders. You can get ‘em wet, then throw ‘em in the wash and use them over and over.

EZ: Is bamboo really antimicrobial?

KEESEY: I’m not convinced it is. It’s all over the web; I mean there’s definitely something going on with it. It’s hard to get a pair of bamboo socks to smell, like with cotton or polyester, but until there’s some good U.S.-based research I’m not going to say.

EZ: As a parting shot, is there anything else you’d like to share about bamboo?

KEESEY: It’s such a great fabric; you really don’t need to make stuff up. It’s really comfortable and has a great affinity for moisture. It keeps you dry. And it really is hard to make bamboo socks smell. It is different – it’s not like anything else.

Visit Dan Keesey’s bamboo sites at BambooClothes.com and EcoDesignz.com for more information on bamboo products and their production.