A new website and T-shirt line wants college-aged women to do their part for the environment and look good doing it.

Jeff Fulmer, a Tennessee-based entrepreneur, started Bamboo-U more than a year ago. Armed with a background in t-shirt marketing and a newly developed sense of awareness about issues facing the environment, he became aware of the ecological advantages of producing clothing made from bamboo fibers.

“I was interested in the green movement, and I wanted to do something a little more positive if that was possible,” Fulmer said. “Everybody knows about bamboo and knows there’s lots of good things to do with it, but clothing was new to me.”

Fulmer now operates Bamboo-U, a website that sells his line of T-shirts made of 70 percent bamboo fiber and 30 percent organic cotton. The company is still establishing itself, but Fulmer is hopeful about the future of the company.

“I wanted to kind of let it grow organically, no pun intended,” he said. “I think that there’s a learning process, and I’ve learned a lot in the past year. I can’t get into too much of a rush. It’s not going to happen overnight.”

To that end, his line is specifically geared toward female college students.

“We’re really trying to get more exposure to that audience,” Fulmer said. “I feel like college students are more open to trying things.”

He says that the reaction from clients has been overwhelmingly positive.

“Once they try it, they really love it,” he said. “There’s a discernible difference between how it feels and conventional cotton. It’s softer. It feels a little silky.”

Fulmer also believes that the environmental consciousness of the line will appeal to the college-aged generation.

What makes bamboo a more environmentally friendly choice, according to Thomas Valone, associate professor of biology at Saint Louis University, is its resiliency as a crop.

“It grows very fast,” Valone said. “In terms of growing bamboo, it’s kind of this wonder plant. It’s better compared to most cotton production , which uses a lot of water and chemicals.”

Fulmer agreed.

“The number one [advantage] is probably, like organic cotton, bamboo doesn’t use any pesticides or chemical fertilizers in order to grow,” he said. “It can just use the natural water. So, the energy needed to produce it is less. It’s very self-sustaining.”

Fulmer did extensive research before starting the company to ensure it was both profitable and lived up to its environmental promises.

“It’s really just been a process,” he said. “We’ve tried to do as much as we can to make very environmentally friendly shirts that you can feel good about wearing. Nothing you produce has no environmental footprint, but we try to do as much as we can.”

Fulmer hasn’t always been as keyed into global issues, and he believes each person has to become aware of them in their own time.

“You just have to wait for the light bulb to go off for yourself,” he said. “I’m fairly cynical, and, if I can come around, pretty much anyone can.”

For more information about Fulmer’s line of T-shirts or to purchase one, visit www.bamboou.com.