For context, I just got my first order from https://zerowasteoutlet.com/ and one of the items was a bamboo based, biodegradable floss. I like the idea, but due to tariffs, it’s future is questionable at best. I’ve found there are 3 or 4 native bamboos, and bamboo farms are starting up in the US, but none are growing the natives. So I was wondering if there was an alternative that I could share with the owner.
This isn’t entirely unasked for meddling. I actually got an email from them asking how I liked my first order and for comments.
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Farms generally don’t use the native species as they are not as profitable.
Arundinaria gigantea would be the best native canidate for cultivation in my opinion.
As far as your original question, no not really? But depends on what specific properties you are looking for. There are many fast growing plants grown for different uses.
Reading the product page for the “bamboo based, biodegradable floss” I can’t find specifics on what it’s made of and I have a theory that the “fibers” are actualy rayon/vicose made from the cellulose in bamboo (a common greenwashing tactic) since bamboo fibers on their own do not lend well to spinning “Soft bamboo fibers are spun into floss” but I cannot confirm this. If that is the case, some of the millions of pounds of corn stover produced in the us could go towards that.
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There is a domestic hemp fiber industry in the US, although also a lot of imports. Domestic production is currently small (it was illegal until 2014) but growing by about 20% per year. It isn’t native, but often cited as a sustainable source of fiber.
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I also have bamboo floss. Don’t think it would biodegrade, just disintegrate to more microplastic (reading more, not sure what my floss would become?)
But buyer’s remorse. I think that is like my bamboo socks.
It is still plastic - but starting with bamboo instead of fossil fuel.
Dental floss used to be silk? Before the world went plastic.
I wonder if bagasse from sugarcane can be made into ‘string’. I know it is used to make paper.
Yes, most bamboo textiles are rayon/viscose (see Wíkipedia). I imagine the dental floss is some kind of synthetic bamboo-based fiber rather than mechanically extracted/retted fiber.
Corn waste can also be processed to make synthetic textiles but I think currently it is more often used to replace other petrochemical-based products (plastic bags, packing foam, etc.)
I imagine sugarcane or even woodpulp would also work – viscose fibers are really about the starch/cellulose and can be made from a wide variety of plant sources.
I am a big fan of hemp as a fiber source (lower environmental impact than cotton), but I’m not sure it would be particularly suitable for use as dental floss, as I would think there would be more disintegration due to abrasion than would be desirable. (Bast fibers like hemp are, however, stronger when wet, so it is possible they might be usable.)
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I don’t think there’s generally commercial use of the fibers, but the farmed plants most similar to bamboo would probably be sugarcane (as others have mentioned) or sorghum. Structurally, they are tough, stiff, hollow grasses, much like bamboo. They are not US native plants, though they have a history of cultivation in the Southern US and into the Carribean.
To use as dental floss, it would need to not be ‘natural plant fibres’ or we could just use sewing cotton. Surely that would break when used as floss?
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Thanks for the brainstorming everyone. I just sent him a link to this thread. Hope it helps.