Are Your Workout Clothes Toxic? + 10 Sustainable Brands To Support Instead!

It feels like everybody’s been walking around in athleisure for quite some time now. I get, it’s comfy and practical. You are talking to a woman who’s working out 6 days a week, so trust me, I VERY MUCH INDEED GET IT.

The activewear industry is booming, touching everything from the lives of millions of working and individuals who are affected by its manufacturing processes to all our global ecosystems.

Wait what now? What’s the issue with my sweats?

Well, for starters;

Activewear has a plastic problem. It’s estimated that 60% of our apparel is made from synthetic fabrics, and activewear uses more man-made fibres than any other category. These fibres can’t decompose naturally, so are destined for landfill, and in the meantime shed microfibres into our water systems, adding to the global plastic pollution problem.

Furthermore:

Are you toxic?
The use of synthetic chemicals and pesticides in the production of our clothes can poison up to 25 million farmers per year and cause a range of issues including cancer, harming reproductive and immune systems, hurting fetal development, damaging the nervous system, neurological problems, and respiratory issues. And guess what? Greenpeace has found toxic chemicals including phthalates, Azo dyes, PFCS, and heavy metals such as lead and chromium in many clothes from mainstream brands, which we can then absorb through our skin. When sweating our absorption rate can increase by 50%, meaning that we absorb twice as many toxic chemicals when we exercise, which can seriously harm our health if we’re wearing toxic workout gear.

I’ll leave it up to you to imagine the harm these chemicals do when pumped into rivers, flowing in to the ocean, touching every part of our beloved earth..

So what now? You know me, I never leave you guys hanging without a solution(s)! How are we ever going to change the world if we only focus on the bad?

First things first: use the Cora Ball when you are doing your laundry. It catches any microfibers that otherwise would slink out into the ocean.