Jute Shopping Bag

Jute(Corchorus capsularis & Corchorus olitorius) is a natural vegetablefibre second to cotton in importance. The annual global production ofjute and similar fibres is about 3 million tonnes.

Jute is a rain fed crop, requiring 1000mm of annual rainfall, which iscultivated mainly in Bangladesh, India and Thailand which account formore than 90 percent of world production. Jute is very fast growing,reaching a height of up to 4.5 meters in a period of 5 months. Jutefibre, which is is a long, soft, shiny natural fibre that can be spuninto coarse, strong threads, is extracted from plants through variousstages such as retting, stripping, washing and drying. The colour ofjute varies from light tan to brown and it can be easily bleached ordyed. Jute is a crop grown predominantly by small farmers in developingcountries such as India and Bangladesh where it is estimated that 4million farmers and their families earn their living from jutecultivation.

Since mechanical harvesting is not appropriate on small jutefarms, jute is usually harvested by hand with stems being cut close tothe ground and left in the field for a few days to defoliate. Jutecultivation is therefore labour-intensive and provides an income formany small farmers. Jute fibre is used to produce hessian cloth, bags,carpet backing and geo-textiles.

Jute has various environmental advantages when compared tocompeting products. Jute plants require minimal amounts of fertiliserand pesticides compared to other crops and jute cleans the air byconsuming large quantities of greenhouse causing CO2. One hectare ofjute plants can consume about 15 tons of CO2 and release about 11 tonsof oxygen during the jute growing season. Jute is a renewable energysource with a high production per hectare. The biological efficiency ofjute farming means that jute agriculture has a low environmental impactcompared to other crops. Jute and jute products are biodegradable,compostable, and environmentally friendly.

Because of the environmental advantages of natural fibres suchas jute, the prospects for the world jute industry have improvedconsiderably. Although the increased consumption of syntheticpolypropylene plastic has had a negative effect on the jute industry inrecent years, jute is now being seen as a better environmentalalternative to such synthetic products. See our in depth articlecomparing .

Improvements in the production and processing of jute which would makejute more cost competitive would no doubt see this natural fibrecontinue to increase its share of the world market.Jute shopping bags are more environmentally friendly than eithersynthetic non woven polypropylene bags or conventional cotton bags,which require large amounts of water and chemicals to be grownsuccessfully. Of course organic cotton is superior to conventionalcotton from an environmental perspective.
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Jute Shopping Bag
Material:Laminated Jute
Size (HxWxD):35x32x20cm
Weight:9 oz
Handles:C