Organic Activewear

Susanna Cellucci

Susanna Cellucci

Updated Sep 18, 2026

There are some powerful individuals who take advantage of something that is shared with the rest of humanity for their own interest, and that is the planet! 🌎

They make cheap products, made with toxic materials, pollute the environment, exploit the labor, and then sell these to us!

 

We can either wait for the institutions to act to protect us, or we can take action now with our wallets to change the system. We can start now to protect our health and the health of the planet by not feeding the profits of these toxic and extremely wealthy companies. While there are those who keep intoxicating us and polluting the world, it is up to us not to feed this unsustainable system. How? Here is what you can do:

Conventional Activewear

Avoid conventional activewear made with conventional cotton or synthetic materials. The global textile industry produces millions of tons of products each year. 80% of those are petrochemical-based, such as the non-biodegradable polyester fabrics found in conventional athletic clothes. They contain harmful chemicals such as azo dyes, formaldehyde, PFCs, phthalates, heavy metals, chlorine bleach, and VOCs.

It doesn’t matter if they carry a popular label or are made by designers, or made by celebrities, or even made or promoted by influencers that pretend to be “non-toxic”; if they are made with toxic chemicals that are toxic to human health, to the workers, to the animals, and deplete the planet’s resources, there is nothing sexy here. They are not attractive, luxurious, exclusive, or hot! I stopped buying Lululemon (which is investigated for PFAS) and ALO a long time ago for this reason! They overcharge for their toxic plastic clothing. I no longer wear their activewear.

 

❌ Conventional Cotton Activewear: Avoid conventional cotton of any kind. It is considered the world’s dirtiest crop in the world with its 16% insecticide and 7% pesticide use on the planet! 🌎 Conventional cotton comes from seeds sold by AG chemical companies like Monsanto. Roundup Ready Cotton (RR Cotton), which has been genetically modified to survive the herbicide weapon called glyphosate Roundup, invented by Monsanto. Creating stronger weed resistance to glyphosate, which in turn led to an increase in pesticide use. The glyphosate rate of application per crop year has tripled on cotton farms. According to the Organic Trade Association, cotton is one of the most heavily sprayed crops in the world, accounting for 16% of global insecticide use. This pesticide use can lead to soil degradation, water pollution, and harm to wildlife and human health. Avoid conventional cotton of any kind: conventional cotton = toxic.

 

❌ Synthetic Activewear: They are all petroleum-derived! Made of polyester, nylon, acrylic, spandex, rayon, or polyamide. These clothing items release 9MILLION plastic microfibers into the ocean every time we wash them. They are also responsible for microplastic releases (thousands of plastic microfibers) into the water supply during every wash cycle: they make up 35% of the primary microplastics found in the oceans! 🌎 

 

❌ PFAS: “forever chemicals” PFAS Exposure Linked to Reduced Fertility in Women found in popular activewear clothing brands such:

 

❌ Unfair Labor: ALO Yoga has faced growing scrutiny regarding its materials, labor transparency, and legal controversies.

Greenwashing Activewear

Avoid Greenwashing activewear clothing made by brands that pretend to be natural, sustainable, safer, or better when they are not! They will use misleading marketing tricks to convince you to buy their products! 

 

Many eco fashion brands will use their newer greenwashing fabrics as sustainable alternatives while they are still controversial and toxic to us, the parkers, and the environment! 🌎  They use natural fabrics that need toxic solvents or processing. 

 

❌ Greenwashing Cotton: Even if they claim “organic” or “natural”  cotton, if they don’t display the GOTS Certified seal, they may have something to hide.

❌ Bamboo Fabric: FTC report about the mislabeling of bamboo “most “bamboo” textile products, if not all, really are rayon, which typically is made using environmentally toxic chemicals in a process that emits hazardous pollutants into the air.”

❌ Bamboo viscose AKA Bamboo rayon: It is a bio-based semi-synthetic material created from cellulose fibers from bamboo. Even though bamboo is grown without pesticides, it is made into viscose, which requires toxic chemicals (chemicals carbon disulfide, solvents such as sodium hydroxide — a.k.a caustic soda) and a polluting process. Plus, it is mostly made in China! Therefore, bamboo viscose is greenwashing.

❌ Viscose AKA Rayon: Viscose Rayon is responsible for deforestation in Indonesia. Every year, 3.2 billion trees are cut down to make paper packaging or fabrics such as rayon and viscose. Viscose fabric is made from cellulose that’s been extracted from the bark, wood, or leaves of plants. It’s most often made from bamboo, pine, or eucalyptus trees. Viscose is used to make clothing (especially loungewear and activewear), sheets, and bedding. Viscose is toxic: chemicals are then used to break down cellulose so it can be spun into viscose, some of which are toxic. One of the most ubiquitous and dangerous is carbon disulfide.​

❌ Modal: viscose that has been made using a closed-loop production process. This more sustainable process also tends to lead to slightly stronger, more durable fabrics.

❌ Lyocell: its processing also omits certain harmful chemicals altogether.

❌ Lenzing: Lenzing is a fiber production company based in Austria. 

❌ Tencel: Tencel is Lenzing’s trademarked version of lyocell or modal yarn

❌ Recycled synthetic material: it still releases microplastics when washing 

❌ Controversial manufacturing: dresses made by exploiting child labor and in other unfair environments 

​Organic Activewear

The best activewear clothing are made with all-natural, safer material that respects us, our skin, the farmers, workers, and the planet. 🌎 

The best activewear clothing is made with certified organic natural materials such as cotton, wool, silk, alpaca, hemp or linen. When choosing safer and non-toxic cotton legging, the best cotton you can get is: GOTS Certified Organic Cotton. 

 

🍃 The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is the best leading textile independent certification for organic fibers. It is responsibly and sustainably grown without pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. This is better for us, then planet and for the farmers.  They also include ecological and social criteria of the entire textile supply chain. GOTS supervises how fibers and textiles must be ginned, knitted, woven, dyed, manufactured, and labeled. Also processing, manufacturing, packaging, labeling, trading, and distribution. To Be certiifed organic textiles  it is needs to be made from at least 95% certified organic natural fibers.

🍃It also certifies that the production has respected ecological rules on waste, water use, disposal, and protection of the environment, that it has followed rules that respect the workers, and finally, protection for the consumer’s health. Brands that carry the  GOTS certification don’t allow pesticides or insecticides in their cotton; their dyes cannot contain toxic material, and the production has to follow strict environmental rules. Making these items completely sustainable.  💗

GOTS Certified Organic cotton is incredibly soft and durable, compared to conventional cotton. Organic cotton even prevents skin rash and protects delicate skin, sensitive skin, dry skin, and skin allergies, chemical sensitivity, and psoriasis or eczema. Especially for baby’s skin!

☁️Certified GOTS organic cotton is made without toxic chemicals and pesticides. It protects the soil, and compared to conventional cotton, organic cotton saves:

  • 💦 Water (91% less water used) 
  • ⚡️ energy (62% less energy)
  • While 👩‍🌾protecting farmers who work the crop!

 

GOTS seal Certified Organic logo

✅ OEKO-TEX certification, which requires a product to be free of more than 1,000 harmful chemicals, including the intentional use of PFAS

 

OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 logo

 

 

✅ The Fair Trade Certified Factory logo means these brands partner with Fair Trade Certified™ factories that provide safe working conditions, community support, and additional development funds to those working on-site.

 

Fair Trade Certified Factory logo

The Best Organic Activewear Brands 

By choosing only GOTS Certified Organic, OEKO-TEX Certified and Fair Trade Certified activewear, we are sending a clear message to the toxic and greenwashing cotton companies: their marketing strategies are not working with us. We are telling the companies (the ones with only financial goals in mind) we won’t pay for their toxic or misleading products, that we demand better: more transparent, fairer and eco-conscientious products made with respect for the environment! 🌎

🍃By not supporting their brands, and choosing only certiifed organic and safer products, we are reshaping the market for better and more responsible products.  I am determined to support only companies that care about us and the planet. 🌎

​

💚I decided to wear only Organic Cotton or other natural fibers, I searched for only Certified Organic products and look at what I found! Once you try organic cotton, you won’t go back! I just placed another order!!😉 

Here you can find my favorite GOTS Certified Organic cotton brands, the best organic replacement for Lululemon or ALo activewear

 

My number one certified organic activewear brand recommendations are:

 

  • 🌿 MATE 15% off code: PRETTYORGANICGIRL15
  • 🌿 Lezat 10% off code: PRETTYORGANICGIRL
  • 🌿 Allwear   20% off code: PRETTYORGANICGIRL

 

Shop with my links to support my research!💖

sport bra sport towel sport sock tennis sports wear
MATE organic clothing logo

15% off code: PRETTYORGANICGIRL15

Lezat logo

10% off code: PRETTYORGANICGIRL

Allwear logo

20% off code: PRETTYORGANICGIRL

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