Yes! We think so. We don’t want to be alarmists, but we do support the reduction of harsh chemicals and preservatives in skin care. It is not only better for you and your family, but it is healthier for our planet. Whatever you put on skin is likely to be absorbed into the blood stream with the potential to cause damage over time. Whatever is thrown into the landfill or flushed down your toilet has the potential to accumulate and contaminate water supplies and oceans which can then become concentrated in the food chain.

You might say that manufacturers have taken the easy way out for years by using cheap ingredients to turn a bigger profit and harsh preservatives to ensure a product’s shelf life throughout an increasingly growing supply chain. There is good news though; Consumers like you have been educating themselves and voting for safer and higher quality products with their dollars. The more consumers show their concern by buying safer and more natural products, the more common it will become to see ingredients lists with safer ingredients.

In our case, Bum Boosa® began as concerned mothers who found a need in the market for safer baby products. When we set out to create them, we insisted that they be made with certain gentler ingredients. We are fortunate to have found and work with suppliers that listened to our concerns and helped us create our vision.

Navigating the enormous terrain of chemical names is not easy for the average person. Furthermore, just because you have trouble pronouncing an ingredient, does not mean it is dangerous. A Washington-based organization called Skin Deep has made it easy to calculate your risk of exposure to potentially harmful substances through the personal care products you use for yourself or your baby. Their rating system offers a means of quantifying the risks posed. Bum Boosa® has voluntarily signed their Compact for Safe Cosmetics, and in doing so we have pledged to not only make our products safe, but to provide transparency to consumers. We also submitted laboratory testing results that show that our baby wipes do not contain dioxane 1, 4, formaldehyde, chlorine, or BPAs (bisphenol a). Check them out at: www.safecosmetics.org

Click here to read about some common ingredients you may see in skin care products that may be cause for concern. We recommend avoiding them and we choose never use them in our products, as we believe that there are many safe and natural alternatives. As a side note, we also recommend that when we consider laboratory studies to always ask how a study was performed (did they use high quantities? Was it performed on an animal? In a petrie dish? Who was funding the study? How many studies have there been and what did they conclude?).

Renewability refers to a plant that has a short regeneration period to full maturation, usually in stark contrast to the material they are replacing. Sustainability refers to resources being replenished at a fast enough rate at which they can be used for consumption. Bamboo is a quintessential renewable and sustainable plant due to the fact that it grows back so quickly and naturally. Furthermore, it is a regenerating plant, which means it does not have to be replanted. This saves on gas-guzzling tractors.

Unfortunately the packaging for the baby wipes is not currently biodegradable. In an effort to be as environmentally responsible as possible, Bum Boosa® reclaims our packaging post-use to divert it from landfills. A talented local artist hand-crafts new items after the packaging is sterilized. The packages are upcycled into new items such as shopping or diaper bags. Please learn more about our Upcycling Program here.

The packaging for the bathroom tissue is made from 100% recycled content and is recyclable. It does not contain any plastic.

Most people are not aware, but there are currently no federal regulations regarding this marketing claim. INDA, the Association for Non Woven Fabrics Industry offers guidelines to determine flushability, but it seems that even the experts are conflicted as to whether any company should be advertising wet wipes as flushable. In fact, several states have tried to ban this marketing claim for wet wipes altogether. Therefore, we do not recommend that you flush Bum Boosa Bamboo Baby Wipes.  There is more to flushablity than whether or not the product will biodegrade. What we have learned is that flushability really depends on if the flushed material will cause blockage problems en route to these microbial feasts.  If you would like to discuss ”flushability”, please call our customer service line toll free 1-866-996-BUMS (2867).  Our toilet paper and diaper liners however, are safe to flush.

 

Yes, these products are made from bio-based bamboo material. So far, we have certified our bamboo baby wipes in the USDA Bioprefered program. We will eventually complete the certification process for our bathroom tissue, as well. The USDA defines bio-based products as those whose main ingredients are from renewable plant, animal, marine, or forestry materials. Get more info at www.biopreferred.gov

Composting turns degradable materials into useable compost-humus-like material that enriches the soil and returns nutrients to the earth. Bum Boosa® Bamboo Wipes have early on been deemed as compostable in industrial or municipal facilities as opposed to home composting units that do not generate high enough temperature to safely break down human waste. These claims were based on our independent results and by our customers who use well managed facilities with high temperatures. However, the FTC recently set requirements for compostability certification testing that is a financial burden for many small business like ours. We will keep you updated on our progress with our certification tests. In the meantime, we cannot make claims that they are compostable at industrial or municipal facilities.

Our bathroom tissue breaks down quickly, despite being 3 plies. The reason for this, is that each ply is extremely thin to maintain the smoothness of bamboo that has been pulped using the thermo-mechanical processing. To do the septic-safe test at home, follow these guidelines”

1. Tear a single square from the roll and place in a jar 75% full of water.

2. Screw a cap onto the jar and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds.

Your toilet tissue is septic safe if it is fully dissolved or partially dissolved.

Although our diaper rash ointment was a great product, we decided to focus on bamboo non woven fiber for hygiene products. We would like to take this opportunity to reccommend another diaper rash brand we like. Boo Bamboo carries a line of bamboo hair care and baby care, including a wonderful diaper rash ointment containing bamboo. Visit Boo Bamboo at http://www.boobamboo.com/

We have never, nor will we ever test on animals. Furthermore, all of our suppliers must provide documentation stating to the same. We are certified by Leaping Bunny which is a program providing the best assurance that no new animal testing is used in any phase of product development by the company, its laboratories, or suppliers.

Currently Bum Boosa® plants trees for each individual package of baby wipes sold. Our trees are being planted annually in a variety of locations where deforestation has had a major impact. We feel that regions that have suffered tremendous losses due to deforestation are the best place to start. To date we have planted nearly 50,000 trees in Brazil, Ghana, Burundi and Haiti. We have chosen to plant in these countries for two reasons: rainforest depletion is as high as 90% due to things like widespread logging in the past and overgrazing. And in Burundi, where 57% of children under 5 suffer from chronic malnutrition, we are planting Moringa, “the miracle tree” which boasts twice the calcium as milk and four times as much Vitamin A as in carrots.

If you would like to plant trees in other regions around the globe, please visit Trees for the Future to learn about their many programs.

No. The species’ of plant used for processing fiber is a different variety than the ones Pandas consume. Its Latin name is Phyllostachys heterocycla pubescens, but is commonly known as Moso bamboo. Deforestation, agricultural encroachment and road-building remain the biggest threats to Panda habitat.

Because it’s the best, environmentally-preferable solution for disposable products! We invite you to read our Bamboo page for detailed information about bamboo. Below are the highlights of why we chose it for our products:

• Regenerated cellulose fiber made from bamboo is a bio-based material; 
• Bamboo is the fastest growing grass on the planet and can shoot up a yard or more a day making it an endurable natural resource. Bamboo is ready for harvesting in 2-4 years (as opposed to 30+ years for trees); 
• Bamboo does not require replanting after harvesting because of its vast root network; 
• Bamboo crops do not require significant amounts of water, in fact, rain water is usually sufficient for growth; 
• Bamboo generates 35% more oxygen than an equivalent stand of trees; 
• Replacing disposables with bamboo material can have a major effect on the rate of deforestation of hardwood forests; 
• Regenerated-cellulose fiber from bamboo is very soft.

• China is currently the largest exporter of bamboo worldwide. Their contribution of this export is significant. Bamboo’s position in the market continues to progress because in contrast to wood, bamboo is increasingly understood to be an inherently sustainable resource because of its rapid growth and abundant availability.

• We also recognize the potential of bamboo as a forest product that can help alleviate rural poverty and that can provide important environmental, as well as economic benefits.

• With logging bans in China in natural forests, demand for bamboo grew to offset deforestation of traditional trees. The result was that more and more rural people in China began to grow bamboo on their farms to improve their livelihoods. Bamboo is now routinely plantation-grown on Chinese land that families and villages own the rights to, i.e, the managing and harvesting rights. The People’s Republic of China have allowed this kind of land management structure (mix of free market with government incentives) since economic reforms in the 1980’s with the aim of alleviating the intense poverty of rural people. It is a positive development.

• As a strategic response to their own timber shortages, China is currently leading the bamboo pulp and paper processing industry, while at the same time, offering the international community a solution to their respective crises of deforestation.

• The 13 Southern states in the U.S.A. account for nearly 60 percent of the United States’ wood output. We are turning our land into seas of pine plantations that are not an equal substitution and that do not support biodiversity. (Schouch, 2002).

• Yields of bamboo of up to 60 tons per hectare greatly exceed the yield of most trees (around 20 tons) and cotton (1-2 tons). We believe that this fact alone is more important than where it is currently grown and produced.

• We also feel that it is a common misperception that importing to America comes at the cost of American jobs. Based on our experience as bamboo business owners since 2009, we know that bamboo imports have the potential to and already have contributed to job creation.

• Of course it would be ideal to have bamboo grown and also processed here in North America. However, bamboo agriculture and processing industries are currently in the development stages in North America; Major developments will not happen until North America demonstrates an increased market demand over a period of time. Canadian Senator Doug Finley recently stated that “bamboo is the next Microsoft of the business world.” It is our goal to eventually be manufacturing in the North America. When the bamboo industry develops in our region, we will be ready for it.

Our baby wipes are made at FDA certified facilities where quality control is strictly maintained. We have also had our baby wipes and bathroom tissue tested at an independent laboratory to demonstrate the absence of formaldehyde, dioxane 1, 4, chlorine, and Bisphenol A’s. Our toilet paper is tested for quality both at the supplier and in the USA.

We endeavor to make as many aspects of our company as environmentally-friendly as possible. Below are some of the ways that we have incorporated these ideals into our business model:

• We plant trees with Trees for the Future representing the sale of our baby wipes. As of November 2012, we have planted nearly 50,000 trees to help stop and reverse deforestation; 
• We offset 35 tons of carbon emissions annually by purchasing carbon credits through CarbonFund.org; 
• Our baby wipes manufacturing facility operates on 100% renewable energy;
• Our toilet paper is made using a lower impact manufacturing method;
• We are members of World Bamboo Organization with whom we strive to advance the causes of bamboo and further the efforts of bamboo practitioners worldwide.  For more information about World Bamboo Organization or to donate, please visit http://www.worldbamboo.net;
• The electricity in our office comes from 100% renewable energy; 
• We ship in recycled and/or reclaimed boxes;
• We reclaim paper and other office supplies to keep them out of the landfill; 
• We use environmentally-conscious office practices and supplies; 
• We maintain paper-free records as much as possible; 
• We carpool whenever possible; 
• We operate as much of the business as possible from home offices to reduce travel; 
• We make efforts to reclaim our packaging for alternative reuse; 
• We use satellite storage facilities to reduce trucking of products more than necessary; 
• We aim to educate consumers about environmentally-responsible options and choices; 
• Because of our efforts to protect the environment, we are very proud to have been certified as a B Corp. Please learn about B Corps http://bcorporation.net/ 
• We prefer to work with other Certified B Corps, such as our credit card processor Dharma Merchant Services, with whom we share a like-minded environmental mission.  10% of their profits earned from Bum Boosa are donated to World Bamboo Organization.

This is just a sample of some of our efforts. We are always open to new ideas on how we can improve.

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