We import our unfinished bamboo because the largest concentration of bamboo and factories to produce the goods, at the present time, are located abroad. We are dedicated to ensuring that our factory workers are paid fairly and work in a safe environment. A company representative visits each of our manufacturing partners at least once annually to inspect working conditions. While this isn’t ideal, shipping via ocean freight emits six times lower CO2 per mile than shipping by truck. That means shipping our products from our factory has about the same carbon footprint as it does to ship from Portland to Los Angeles.