Before I heard about bamboo clothing, I slept on a bed with bamboo sheets.  I was hooked before I fell asleep.  They were softer than sheets washed 300 times, and not quite the thickness of flannel.  I was shocked those hard plant cousins of grass could be so cloud-like.  Bamboo now covers two of my beds and my couch.  I’m a total fan.

With 2009 came a rush of pregnancies with my family and friends.  Recession abound, everyone was trying to stretch the budget…and the life of their pre-pregnancy clothes. Enter The Belly Band.

Belly bands are tubular shaped chunks of fabric that are worn over the pants and up to the bra line to hide a protruding belly.  They resemble a T-shirt that has been cut off just below where the sleeves start.

Several of my friends bought these, both in cotton and in a bamboo/cotton mix.  Turns out I’m not the only one who finds this fabric irresistible. By the third trimester the bamboo belly bands were all that were worn.  Not only are they unbelievably soft to the touch, they have more stretch and are more absorbent, (I know! Cotton is super absorbent!) which comes in handy for hormones and the heat from cooking buns.

So not only were my girlfriends more comfortable, which is a seriously important thing when pregnant, but those bands were cultivated from plants that come from a renewable source.  There are some types of bamboo that can grow a couple of feet PER DAY. Now that’s sustainable.