Here at The Hot Room we’re constantly on the lookout for eco-friendly and ethical brands for our amazing studio members. Since April holds both Earth Day and Fashion Revolution Week, campaigns which ask us to think about our role as consumers, we wanted to highlight some of our sustainable brands available in our virtual boutique. Dive into spring with these “green” items we know you’ll love!
Manduka
We probably all know (and maybe own) something from Manduka – our THR brand of choice for yoga gear! Manduka is a brand leading the yoga industry in eco-friendly gear options and everything they make – mats, blocks, and towels and even their clothing line – has special sustainability features.
Manduka didn’t cut corners on their clothing line either – their fabrics are made from recycled polyester, plant based fabrics, and organic cottons.
The Manduka website is extremely transparent so you can read up on each individual product and how they are working to constantly improve their sourcing, manufacturing, and operations as a brand.
Featured products (from THR Virtual Boutique):
- Blocks: $16-$24 – Made from sustainable cork or 50% post-consumer recycled EVA foam
- Yogitoes: $ – Made from 8+ discarded plastic bottles woven into 50% recycled poly yarn content, uses 2/3 less energy to produce
- Bolsters: $68 – Woven with post-consumer recycled plastic.
- Straps: $16 – Made with either 100% natural unbleached cotton or 100% recycled spun polyester
All mats – free of toxic chemicals, dyes, and phthalates
- PRO mats – manufactured emissions free, lifetime guarantee
- PROlite: $92
- PRO mat: $120
- eKo mats – made from biodegradable natural tree rubber
- Manduka Grey Tropics Presence Bra:
- Manduka Grey Tropics High Waist Legging: $88
MPG
This beloved brand is tackling sustainability by focusing on three areas:
- Social Compliance
- Chemical Responsibility and Management
- Material Sourcing and Accountability
What does that really mean? Social compliance means MPG ensures safe workplaces, fair wages, and basically the highest standards for their employees, which MPG proves with several certifications and regular auditing processes. Chemical responsibility and management means all clothes are free from harmful chemicals and all supplies are managed responsibly. Material sourcing and accountability means the fabrics, dyes, down feathers, and other supplies are obtained meeting standards for sustainability. MPG provides links to their certifications and details on how they are meeting each standard on their site.
Shop the virtual boutique for a selection of bags and backpacks perfect for carrying your yoga mat and after-class snacks when we get back into the studio.
Featured products (from THR Virtual Boutique):
- Left: Unisex 2-way Large Backpack
- Middle: Olive Green Ladies Puff Workout Bag with Mat Carrier
- Right: Unisex Dual Compartment Large Duffel Bag
MPG Bone Neutral Luxe Modal Romper: $68
Avocado
Avocado works hard to cut down on carbon emissions by keeping their entire process local. They do everything from concept and development, production and manufacturing, to packaging in downtown Los Angeles saving lots of resources by not having to ship or receive materials from around the world.
Avocado also guarantees fair wages and clean, safe working environments in their factories where they implement advanced technologies to decrease waste when cutting fabrics and eliminate materials for unnecessary seam in their seamless designs. They’ve even got a patent for a secret waistband design that prevents it from rolling around and folding or digging into your skin.
Shop the mustard bra and leggings set up in the virtual boutique and fall in love with their seamless, super-soft fabrics.
Girlfriend Collective
Girlfriend Collective is one of my personal favorite brands. I’ve owned a pair of their black leggings for five years, worn and washed on a weekly basis, and they haven’t lost a bit of their elasticity or compression abilities.
All of their leggings and other activewear are made from either recycled water bottles or recycled plastic fishing nets. They also offer two collections, one with a LITE fabric that’s a stretchier, and well…lighter than their regular compressive fit that keeps everything tight during hot yoga classes.
Girlfriend Collective also has a lot of other awesome practices in place: certifications which guarantee their factories provide fair wages, safe conditions, allow unionization, and models which represent every race and body type. Everything is laid out clearly on their site.
Did I mention most of their leggings have pockets?Grab their leggings and matching sports bra in this brilliant purple shade in the virtual boutique.
Liquido
A long-time frontrunner in the sustainable yoga-wear industry, Liquido makes eco-friendly leggings in some incredible prints and vibrant colors.
Liquido’s big claim to sustainability fame is their unique Amni Soul eco-fabric which has been designed to break down in the environment in five years when eventually discarded, instead of the decades that typical leggings take.
Aside from their yoga wear materials, Liquido is working on making every aspect of their operations more sustainable, even down to the packaging: they’ve switched to soy-based ink on their stickers and recyclable craft paper instead of plastic packaging. Liquido is another brand doing their best to be transparent – there are videos on their materials and links to where they get their packaging on their site if you’re curious.
Keeping your wardrobe fun, Liquido doesn’t repeat patterns and constantly turns out must-have prints like the geometric leggings in the Virtual Boutique.
Featured products (from THR Virtual Boutique):
- (Left) Girlfriend Collective Indigo High Waist Legging: $64
- (Middle) Avocado Saffron Gaia Crop Bra: $60
- (Right) Liquido Geometric High Waist ⅞ Leggings: $84
MonoB – Green Line
Mono B is a brand we love at The Hot room, best known for their high quality and affordable activewear, athleisure apparel, and loungewear. We were thrilled to learn they’re working on becoming more sustainable too, specifically developing an eco-friendly MonoB Green collection.
As they explain on their site, most brands are using either polyester or polyamide/nylon and various elastic fibers (elastane, spandex, or Lycra) to create their clothes. The production of the synthetic fibers requires fossil fuels though so it contributes a lot more to greenhouse gas emissions than natural fabrics.
Enter the friendly MonoB Green collection made with 100% post-consumer recycled polyester and 100% pre-consumer recycled nylons! These recycled materials save a ton of energy and cut down on emissions.
Keep an eye out for these leggings from the MonoB Green line in our Virtual Boutique.
Featured products (from THR Virtual Boutique):
MonoB Black Pocket Detail Legging: $58
When you shop at The Hot Room Virtual Boutique, you’re supporting sustainability, ethical fashion, and local business all in one shop. We appreciate you and our entire THR community and can’t wait to see you back in the studio in your colorful spring gear soon.
Visit THR Virtual Boutique now!
Helpful terms to know:
Post-consumer – materials recycled after they have been used by the consumer Ex: plastic water bottles
Pre-consumer – materials recycled before they’ve been used by the consumer Ex: fabric scraps that were left over from the manufacturing of something else
Synthetic – Synthetic fibers are fibers made by humans through chemical synthesis, as opposed to natural fibers that are directly derived from living organisms.
Polyester (polyethylene terephthalate) – A synthetic fiber derived from a chemical reaction involving petroleum, air, and water. It doesn’t breathe well, it repels water, and isn’t sustainable or biodegradable.
Nylon – A generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers, based on aliphatic or semi-aromatic polyamides. Nylon is a thermoplastic silky material that can be melt-processed into fibers, films, or shapes. Common in athletic wear and yoga wear for its high elasticity.
Transparency – Transparency is the practice of openly sharing information about how, where and by whom a product was made. Being transparent means publishing all information about every actor involved in the production process, from start to finish, from the fields to the store shelves. (Medium.com)
Organic – Refers to raw materials that are not genetically modified (GM) and have been grown without any chemical pesticides and insecticides.
About Sarah Swank
Sarah tried yoga for the first time as a college elective 6 years ago and it’s been a part of her life ever since. Off the mat, Sarah works remotely for a mentoring program for incarcerated teens, owns the women’s community group The Liberated Ladies, travels the world whenever she can, and blogs about her adventures at Suitcase Six. Yin is her favorite class because she always feels like she needs to slow down. Sarah is the Retail Operations Manager and fashion blogger for The Hot Room Hot Boutique.