Last Updated on August 23, 2023
These eco nice yoga mat producers provide sustainable and non toxic yoga mats! Standard yoga mats are made with doubtlessly harmful substances that could be troublesome to recycle. Instead, the following producers provide sustainable provides and ethical practices for a yoga mat chances are you’ll be comfortable with.
This put up offers you 11 mannequin selections for a non toxic yoga mat, along with methods for the perfect yoga mat for heat yoga along with the perfect non slip yoga mat. An eco nice yoga mat is an efficient technique to proceed your yoga observe at home with out harming the setting — or your nicely being! — from using a mat that’s stuffed with harmful and toxic chemical compounds.
the need for a sustainable yoga mat
Contemplate it or not, the yoga mat is a fairly new invention that started to catch on inside the Nineteen Eighties. Beginning in India, Yoga was first practiced on grass. Superior strikes required additional padding, so early yogis used deer and tiger skins for a lot of of their asanas.
Now, the normal yoga mat you’ll uncover in retailers is often produced from versatile plastic, aka polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Nonetheless, this supplies is questionable on account of its environmental affect (additional on that later) and is often laborious to recycle.
Whereas in concept PVC could be recycled, there must be a requirement for the raw supplies, or it obtained’t be worthwhile. There’s moreover the problem of contaminants like plasticizers, dyes, and dirt from fastened use that make PVC yoga mats undesirable to recyclers.
When you occur to do already private a PVC yoga mat, try to upcycle it into under-knee padding for gardening or add it beneath a sleeping bag to extra soften a flooring. In every other case, your solely choice is to resolve on a sustainable yoga mat.
When you occur to’re all for locating inexperienced yoga mats, there are a great deal of selections to pick from. I’ve rounded up the perfect sustainable yoga mats accessible available on the market. Merely keep in mind, using what you will have is on a regular basis probably the most appropriate selection!
the harm yoga mats set off
Many typical yoga mats are produced from plastic, notably polyvinyl chloride (PVC) — aka plastic resin #3, which is hard to recycle.
The Environmental Security Firm (EPA) calculates that 910,000 tons of PVC waste are generated yearly, nonetheless decrease than 1 / 4 of 1 % is recovered for recycling.
PVC is chemically manipulated all through manufacturing to get that versatile plastic the commerce loves. Sadly, these elements and PVC’s inherent chlorine content material materials complicate the recycling course of for this plastic.
These chemical compounds typically embrace phthalates, which have a controversial background and could have adversarial nicely being outcomes.
In response to a present analysis, persistent publicity to phthalates can adversely have an effect on the endocrine system and the functioning of a variety of organs. This may increasingly more and more set off harmful long-term impacts on the success of being pregnant, child progress and enchancment, and reproductive packages in every youthful children and adolescents.
Whereas typically using a PVC yoga mat isn’t so harmful, you may want to choose a particular supplies should you occur to’re ready to — like pure rubber, jute, pure cotton, or cork.
can you recycle yoga mats?
Not every recycling facility is ready to recycling PVC, so that you simply’ll ought to double confirm what your native recycling authorized pointers say. You’ll be able to do that by visiting your native .gov or wanting Earth911’s database.
It’s worth noting that PVC isn’t on a regular basis a worthwhile supplies to recycle each — and recycling is a enterprise, in any case. If no one is all for purchasing for the raw supplies, recycling providers will lose money and deem the material worthless.
There is a recycling program — Manduka’s LiveON program — the place you buy a model new Manduka mat and choose in order so as to add the LiveON program to your purchase. When you receive your new Manduka mat, merely place your outdated mat inside the subject and fasten the included pay as you go supply label (they will accept any mannequin of yoga mat).
The mat will then endure a way of downcycling, the place it’ll get recycled into completely different merchandise like carpet padding, soles of footwear, or animal shelter bedding.
You may too try upcycling or donating your outdated yoga mats. Reuse them on a picnic or on the seashore, upcycle them into child safety flooring, or try donating them to an space retirement neighborhood (plenty of which run yoga programs and should use additional mats). Native artists might also accept them for use in art work initiatives.
what’s probably the most eco nice yoga mat supplies?
Most likely probably the most eco nice yoga mat supplies is one which’s produced from pure or recycled provides. The best supplies for you may rely in your personal preferences, the underside area you’re working with (carpeted floor? exterior?), and the forms of exercises you’ll be doing.
A lot of the producers listed afterward this put up have yoga mat selections acceptable for every indoor and outdoor observe.
Moreover, should you occur to choose to actually really feel the bottom beneath you, go for a thinner mat. When you occur to desire a little bit of extra assist, a thicker mat is best. Nonetheless, keep in mind it’s solely a matter of selection.
For respectable yoga, provides like cork are good — they’re odor-free, to begin with, due to the breathable flooring. Cork naturally inhibits micro organism, mould, and fungal progress for regular hygiene security.
Some examples of sustainable provides for yoga mats:
- Jute: Jute is extracted from the bark of the white jute plant (Corchorus capsularis), and to a lesser extent, from tossa jute. Yoga mats made with all-natural jute are often good for heat yoga, they usually’re often blended with Polymer Environmental Resin (PER) for added grip.
- Pure rubber: Harvested straight from rubber timber, Manduka’s eko line of yoga mats operate 99% latex-free, non-Amazon harvested pure tree rubber.
- Pure cork: Pure cork comes from cork oak forests, the place the tree isn’t decrease down, and the bark grows once more. Scoria, Yoloha, and Urbivore all use cork of their yoga mats.
- Pure or recycled cotton: Pure cotton doesn’t use pesticides or fertilizers which is able to pollute waterways and hurt soil. Recycled cotton ensures the resource-intensive cotton crop doesn’t go to waste by the use of reuse. Oko Dwelling, Abhinehkrafts, and Brentwood Dwelling use pure or recycle cotton of their mats.
- Recycled plastic: Recycled plastic has a smaller carbon footprint than virgin provides. Sugamats makes yoga mats from recycled wetsuits, which in every other case will be landfilled.
cork: a sustainable and non toxic yoga mat
Of us often shock if cork is eco nice. The reply is certain, cork yoga mats are environmentally nice as prolonged as they’re produced from pure cork. Pure cork comes from cork oak timber predominantly grown in Portugal. These cork oak forests are hotspots for biodiversity and residential to a variety of endangered species identical to the Iberian Linx.
Pure cork is harvested skillfully by hand by eradicating the tree’s bark. The tree isn’t harmed all through this course of, and the bark is allowed to develop once more and regenerate. The harvesting course of could be repeated about every 9 years for over 200 years.
Plus, cork oak forests are essential carbon sinks, which help fight native climate change. A well-managed cork forest can soak up over 20 million tons of CO2 yearly.
For these causes, shopping for a yoga mat produced from pure cork is an environmentally nice risk — though there are a variety of various sustainable provides too, like pure cotton, pure rubber, recycled plastic, and so forth.
non-toxic and sustainable yoga mat producers
These 11 yoga mats get the going zero waste seal of approval. All of these producers provide yoga mats with out PVC, and most of them give once more to the planet by the use of tree planting, recycling packages, and additional.
I’ve gone ahead and highlighted some key choices of each mannequin, however it absolutely isn’t an exhaustive document. You may need to check out their internet sites for additional knowledge.
To take care of your mat clear, I wish to advocate attempting out my DIY yoga mat cleaner spray! It’s easy to whip up and non-toxic.
Moreover, should you occur to’re a yoga fanatic, be sure you replenish on some Tiger Balm. It’s useful to have should you occur to accidentally pull a muscle or get sore after a train. I on a regular basis preserve a spare in my gymnasium bag!
1. scoria
- Created from pure cork and sustainably harvested rubber
- Vegan and cruelty-free
- Low affect dyes
- Portion of proceeds goes to Correct to Play, an organization that empowers Indigenous youth
/ SHOP SCORIA /
2. oko residing
- 100% GOTS Licensed pure cotton
- Dyed with medicinal Ayurvedic plant dyes
- Non-slip pure rubber backing
- Ethically handwoven in India
/ SHOP OKO LIVING /
3. manduka
- EKo mat sequence produced from sustainably harvested, non-Amazon tree rubber
- Biodegradable provides
- No PVC or harmful plasticizers
- Recycle your outdated yoga mat by the use of their Reside On program
/ SHOP MANDUKA /
4. sugamats
- Created from recycled wetsuits
- Ship them your outdated wetsuit to be recycled, get a ten% low value
- Sugamat C2G: if one thing happens to it, merely ship it once more, and they also’ll ship you a model new one on them
- Made inside the USA
/ SHOP SUGAMATS /
5. yoga tribe
- Pure tree rubber and jute yoga mats
- 1 yr different producer’s assure
- Eco and compostable packaging
- Free supply to NZ on orders over $100
/ SHOP YOGA TRIBE /
6. yoloha
- Sustainable cork flooring
- Plant foam produced from 55% sugarcane
- Carbon neutral supply
- Vegan and cruelty-free
- Youth, veteran, and nicely being care worker packages
/ SHOP YOLOHA /
7. gaiam
- Eco nice yoga mat selections accessible
- Made with recycled, pure and sustainable provides like jute, cork, and pure rubber
- Excellent for heat yoga
/ SHOP GET GAIAM /
8. jade yoga
- Created from pure rubber tapped from rubber timber
- No PVC, EVA, or completely different synthetic rubber
- Made inside the US
- Vegetation a tree for every mat purchased
/ SHOP JADE YOGA /
9. brentwood home
- GOTS licensed pure cotton yoga mats
- Non-slip base of FSC licensed pure latex
- Native climate Neutral affiliate, to cut back and offset emissions
- Vegan and cruelty free
/ SHOP BRENTWOOD HOME /
10. yogakargha
- Handwoven yoga mats from pure materials like pure or recycled cotton
- Distinctive pure fibers like banana, grass, and wool selections
- Pure rubber coating for anti-skid risk
/ SHOP YOGAKARGHA /
11. urbivore
- All pure, non-toxic cork yoga mats
- Little to no waste in manufacturing course of
- Each purchase vegetation a tree
/ SHOP URBIVORE /
faqs
which of these selections is the perfect yoga mat for heat yoga?
As stated above, the perfect yoga mat for heat yoga is one which makes use of a material corresponding to pure cork. Of the above producers, I’d advocate Urbivore or Gaiam. Scoria and Yoloha will be good candidates in your scorching yoga observe as correctly.
which mannequin offers the perfect non slip yoga mat?
The best non slip yoga mat could have a backing on it made to take care of it common while you’re on it. YogaKargha, Brentwood Dwelling, or Oko Dwelling are my methods should you occur to watch on a simple or slippery flooring and wish one factor with some endurance.
So, would you give one amongst these sustainable yoga mats a try? Let me know inside the suggestions beneath!