Know Your Impact
How do we know that BAM is better?
We want 100% performance, 0% impact on our planet. In order to measure it, we need to know exactly what impact every item has. This let’s us know what we have to do to remain climate positive and innovate for better fabrics.
We started by identifying every step in our supply chain (yes, it was painstaking work). Then we asked independent life cycle experts Green Story to measure the total impact of our clothing - from the moment the crop is harvested through to the moment it’s delivered to our warehouse in Devon.
What Are We Measuring?
Green Story compare our clothing to conventional cotton equivalents so you can see exactly how much lower impact our clothing currently is.
Emmissions
How many miles of emissions have been avoided
Water
How many litres of water that garment has saved
Pesticides
How much land has been farmed pesticide-free
Where Can I See The Results?
You’ll find the comparisons on every product on the website.
Since launching, using bamboo viscose and organic cotton instead of conventional fibres has meant:
No pesticides
1,892,204.6 m2 land has been farmed without pesticides
Fewer carbon emissions
1,357,976.5 kg CO2e fewer carbon emissions have been created
LESS water
465,529,571.1 Litres of water saved
Where Do Our Savings Come From?
Carbon
Where our savings come from
Carbon emissions come from the production and application of pesticides; the emissions from powering the factories and the emissions from transporting goods. Our savings come because bamboo and organic cotton don’t require pesticides and because we transport over 95%* of our goods by sea or road instead of by air. *based on 2019 BAM shipping data
The bonus benefit of bamboo
Bamboo absorbs 5 times more CO2 than hardwood trees because it grows so fast and around two thirds of this is stored in the root system so it stays in the ground when the bamboo is harvested. Because all the carbon is stored in the soil and root system it protects the soil health and biodiversity. This isn’t included in Green Story’s calculations (because it’s not a saving, the carbon wasn’t released in the first place) but the way bamboo grows contributes to its reputation as a sustainable crop.
Water
Where our savings come from
Conventional cotton needs a lot of irrigation often diverting fresh water from eco-systems or drinking water supplies. At the same time, pesticides used in conventional cotton cultivation kills off the organic matter in the soil so it's less able to absorb water so more irrigation is required.
Our bamboo - grown in the Yunan and Sichuan provinces of China - doesn't require any additional irrigation and the large amounts of water its root system can hold can help prevent flooding and landslides. Organic cotton is grown without pesticides meaning the soil is healthier and able to absorb more water from natural rainfall.
Pesticides
Where our savings come from
Pesticides are used to kill off pests which can eat or damage crops but they also kill off other vital organic matter in the soil which means eventually the soil loses its ability to store carbon, support biodiversity, absorb water or to grow anything at all. Over half the world's habitable land is currently used for agriculture which is heavily reliant on using pesticides and fertilisers. The less land farmed using pesticides, the better. We use bamboo and organic cotton which don't use pesticides.
