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Sweatshirts and sweatpants are often made with unsustainable materials. So what are the other options? Here, we’ve put together a list of all our favourite “Good” and “Great” rated brands creating more sustainable sweats you’ll wear for relaxing, working from home, dashing to the grocery store, and everything in between.
Doing cosy the right way
Fabrics are an important consideration when you’re shopping for more sustainable sweatpants and sweatshirts, because one of the most commonly used materials to make the garments is virgin polyester-fleece: a fossil fuel-derived synthetic fabric that deposits microplastics when washed and doesn’t biodegrade, so we recommend avoiding it. Lower-impact materials such as organic cotton, linen, and hemp are ideal for sweats because they share similar qualities to fleece in that they dry quickly and feel comfortable to lounge in all day.
If you’re looking for fleece sweatshirts or pants in particular, be mindful that it’s not easy to find non-synthetic fleece. Brands might use recycled polyester, which is better than virgin material, but is still a synthetic that presents the same sustainability issues we mentioned above. A great alternative is brushed organic cotton, which has a soft and cosy backing achieved through combing the fibres.
And while fast fashion pumps out cheap garments at the expensive of the workers making the clothes, many other brands have committed to more ethical practices, like paying living wages to those who create every pair of sweatpants, eschewing animal-derived materials and certifying as vegan, and working to reduce waste in their supply chains.
So if you’re looking for brands making more sustainable sweats, scroll through this round-up, which is split into sweatshirts and sweatpants.
