Boody Organic Bamboo Eco-wear Review

Boody is an Australian brand whose core focus is on being environmentally-friendly and sustainable. Their everyday basics are backed by their Comfort Guarantee and 1% of all their online sales are donated to non-profits who help protect the environment.

You can check out their Amazon Store here.

About Boody

Boody was started when two friends, David and Neil, wanted to force sustainable change in the fashion industry. Today, their sons and others in their team continue to work on delivering better quality clothes that are better for the planet as well.

What is Boody’s mission?

To make high quality and simple clothes that are better for the planet. In short, to be sustainable in every sense of the word.

What do Boody sell?

Boody focuses on using organic bamboo to make everyday basics, leisurewear and lingerie (bras, crop tops and underwear) for men, women and babies.

My favorite sustainable Boody buys

This super soft Boody Padded Shaper Bra is made of 80% organic bamboo viscose

Check out this Boody Scoop Top – perfect to wear by itself or for layering

This cooling bamboo Boody Classic Bikini score 4.5 stars on Amazon and comes in 9 colors

What is Boody doing to be sustainable?

Environmental Impact

Boody uses computer knitting machines to create seamless garments. I didn’t even know there were such things! The machine knits the clothes in tubes and this results in minimal fabric wastage compared to traditional cut-and-sew manufacturing.
They only use organic bamboo that are grown without pesticides or fertilizers. Not only that, they water them with rainwater.
They use eco-friendly packaging – recycled FSC-certified post-consumer waste (cardboard) and vegetable-based ink. Their packaging bags are biodegradable, compostable and recyclable corn-based polylactic acid (PLA) plastic.

Labor Conditions

Their clothes are manufactured in China, Vietnam and India but unlike many other fashion brands, all the factories they work with are Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP) certified, meaning all factory workers get a fair wage, have health care, annual leave and do not use child labor.
Boody also requires all their partner factories to sign their Code of Conduct. If interested, you can download their Code of Conduct from their website.

Social Responsibility

Boody runs a 1% for the Planet Campaign – 1% of all their online sales are donated to non-profits who help protect the environment.
10% of all their online beanie sales are donated to the Chris O’brien Lifehouse, a not-for-profit hospital and research institute dedicated to transforming cancer care.
They partner with Thread Together to provide new clothing to Australians who are doing it tough, for example, those in emergency accommodation, those fleeing from domestic violence, people who are out of work etc.

Animal Welfare

Boody doesn’t use animal products at all and are 100% vegan. In fact, all their clothes are People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)-approved certified.

Transparency

Boody is honest about the fact that they have much to improve on. They have a lot of information about their sustainable practices on their website and you can even download their Code of Conduct. They stop short of listing the factories they work with and their actual supply chain tracing.

Having said that, of all the fashion brands I’ve looked into so far, Booby is one of the most transparent about their shortfalls. For example, they admit that their bamboo is Ecocert-certified but their end product is not.

What certifications do Boody have?

Impressively, Boody has a long list of certifications:

Ecocert certified bamboo – meaning their bamboo was grown organically without pesticides, fertilizers and without any irrigation.
Boody’s bamboo and garment packaging both come from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified forests.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA)-approved certified products – meaning they are 100% vegan.
Most (not all) of their clothing are OEKO-TEX certified, meaning the finished product contains no harmful chemicals.

Anything else you should know about Boody?

Boody provides a Comfort Guarantee for your first pair of Boody undies or socks. If you are not 100% satisfied within 30 days of your buy, Boody will refund you the purchase price.

Organic bamboo is great for the environment but raw bamboo fabric is rough and not pleasant to wear at all. Even though many brands are not forthcoming about it, most if not all bamboo clothing we see on the market is made of processed bamboo.

Boody is honest about the fact that their bamboo fabric is processed – they call it viscose of bamboo. They admit that chemicals are used in the manufacturing process but there are no residual chemicals in the end product (therefore OEKO-TEX certified). They also make sure that the water used in the manufacturing process is cleaned and certified recycled.

My one bug bear about Boody? I couldn’t find even 1 piece of clothing that was 100% bamboo. All their clothing was made of organic bamboo blended with a small portion of synthetic elastane or nylon. Even though Boody claims that the bamboo portion of their clothing will decompose quickly, blended fabrics take forever to decompose and we don’t have the technology to separate natural from synthetic fibers yet.

To wrap up

I like Boody’s philosophy of making better clothes that are better for the planet. And their honesty is refreshing. I’m looking forward to seeing 100% bamboo products from them.

Check out Boody’s Amazon Store.

Make sure you read my simple guide to sustainable fashion to educate yourself on making the right fashion choices.

Author
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Sharon James

Chief Blogger at Lift Your Talk

Sharon is the chief blogger at liftyourtalk.com. In fact, she is the only blogger here. She is a long way from being a responsible fashionista. That's why she writes about sustainable fashion. Sharon hopes that she can influence someone to be a better shopper and in the process, up her own game.