9 Sustainable Leggings to Ethically Stretch Your Legs, Not The Planet
Having a pair of go-to sustainable leggings is a necessity in any minimalist wardrobe.
Whether you’re working out, lounging with your cat, pairing them with a nice dress, or wearing them as pants, leggings should be versatile, comfortable, and most importantly, sustainable.
With any activewear, there are some materials that are a necessary evil (like elastane) that stretch our planet’s health thinner than the leggings you need to replace.
In the name of a robust planet (and booty), we’ve sought out to discover the best ethical leggings bringing the fashion world more eco-friendly options, so we can shimmy into some sustainable workout leggings, guilt free.
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A Warm Up Of The Best Sustainable Leggings
Wondering what leggings made from recycled plastic bottles feel like?
Wonder no more, thanks to Girlfriend Collective cleaning up the ocean with innovative sustainable practices, so we can wear it, not swim in it.
If you’re after eco-friendly yoga leggings made from GOTS-certified organic cotton, look no further than tentree, who plants ten trees for every purchase!
A good mate will tell you when those thin leggings are, in fact, see-through. And MATE the Label will definitely lend a hand (or a leg) by providing higher quality ones to replace them.
Rushing to morning yoga and need to meditate on how to find women’s sustainable leggings?
Then downward dog your way to the end of the article to get a leg up on our selection criteria.
The Full List Of Sustainable Legging Brands
- Girlfriend Collective | Visit Store
- tentree | Visit Store
- MATE the label | Visit Store
- Pact | Visit Store
- Boody | Visit Store
- Humans Being | Visit Store
- Threads 4 Thought | Visit Store
- Patagonia | Visit Store
- Organic Basics | Visit Store
1. Girlfriend Collective
About Girlfriend Collective
Price Range: $78–$184
The sustainability community can collectively say that Girlfriend Collective is a brand with a clear vision: to see plastic bottles made into beautiful activewear, not in our oceans.
Along with sports bras, swimwear, dresses, and more, they offer an inclusive and budget friendly range of ribbed and compressive leggings, as well as seamless sustainable maternity leggings.
They really are like a group of close girlfriends making you feel comfortable in your own skin (and sustainable tights).
Girlfriend Collective’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
GC’s recycled plastic leggings utilize plastic bottles and fishing nets recovered from the ocean around Taiwan.
You’ll find 70-90% recycled PET and then 10-20% of spandex.
These recycled PET yoga leggings are all OEKO-TEX-certified toxin free and have been dyed with sustainable dyes.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Ensuring their manufacturers match their enthusiasm for the planet, Girlfriend Collective’s factories have third-party certifications like WRAP and SA8000.
Their main production factory for garments is located in Vietnam, is SA8000- certified, and guarantees fair wages and excellent working conditions. They go above and beyond by providing free healthcare, as well.
Green business practices:
If you want to see how each item you buy impacts the environment, you won’t have to stretch far. The descriptions come with stats like plastic bottles diverted from landfills, CO2 prevented, and energy saved.
Your ethical sports leggings will also come in 100% recycled and recyclable packaging.
Add their microfiber filter to your cart to prevent microplastics from entering our waterways upon washing.
With circularity in mind, they offer the ReGirlfriend recycling program for their clothes. You’ll receive $15 store credit for helping close the loop.
Inclusivity:
With inclusive sizes ranging from XXS-6XL, GC is easily one of the best sustainable yoga clothing brands—and not just because they’re eco-friendly leggings with pockets!
Community & charitable giving:
Girlfriend Collective switches up charities all the time, spreading the love and picking organizations they believe in, like One Warm Coat, Greater Good, and Back On My Feet.
2. tentree
About tentree
Price Range: $30–$68
tentree is a Canadian organic clothing brand that believes that even smallest sustainable efforts make the biggest difference.
They have a wide range of planet friendly homewares and clothing for men, women, and kids, from little accessories to oversized organic hoodies.
Made with both sustainably-sourced and recycled materials, slide into your yoga practice in tentree’s eco-leggings—and inhale deeply knowing there are no harsh chemicals surrounding your aura.
tentree’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
The high rise fair trade certified leggings contain organic cotton and a small amount (9%) of spandex.
Their InMotion line incorporates 79% of rPET and 21% of elastane.
Supply chain & labor practices:
With B Corp certification, tentree takes their code of conduct seriously. All factories must adhere to strict policies around no child or forced labor, discrimination, excessive work hours, or harassment.
With ten factories across four countries, tentree is a Fair Wear Foundation member, and their manufacturing partners are WRAP, BSCI, and SA8000 certified.
Some specific items are also Fair Trade certified.
Green business practices:
tentree is growing its ambitions to be a completely green company, with both a Circularity program to take unwanted items to resell or recycle something new, and a Climate Neutral certification.
They also offer the choice to purchase more than just a pair of eco-friendly fitness leggings— you can buy your own carbon offsets for various purposes, from home to travel.
Inclusivity:
You’ll find sizes XS-XXL.
Community & charitable giving:
When creating a brand name and strategy, they really hit the nail on the head because tentree plants ten trees for every purchase and aim for one billion trees planted by 2030.
3. MATE the Label
About MATE the Label
Price Range: $78
Here’s a sustainable fashion brand we’d love to be mates with.
MATE the Label is a female-owned and founded company that wants us to Dress Clean®, meaning from seed to skin, they only work with the most natural, sustainable fabrics.
If you prefer your yoga leggings sustainable, supportive, and squat-proof, the Organic Stretch Midi Leggings pass every test.
MATE the Label’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
MATE has done their absolute best to keep the percentage of natural material (organic cotton) high at 92% and only use 8% spandex.
All garments are free of harsh chemicals, so when you’re sweating it out, nothing bad will be seeping in.
Supply chain & labor practices:
With deep roots in the LA garment district community, all leggings are USA-cut, sewn, knit, and packaged within a 15-mile radius from headquarters.
All factory partners must follow MATE’s ethical production practices outlined in their Code of Conduct.
One international factory they’ve chosen to work because of their incredible knitting craftsmanship is based in Peru. It’s Fair Trade-certified and pays workers above minimum wage, healthcare costs, and double wages on holidays.
Green business practices:
MATE sources its organic cotton from India, but they reduce and offset their carbon emissions by using sea freight.
This Climate Neutral Certified brand keeps a solid record of their environmental contribution, both positive and negative, which you can read all about in their Impact Report.
From eliminating plastic hang tags to recycling every organic cotton offcut, we certainly want to be mates with this sustainability powerhouse in the fashion industry.
Inclusivity:
Inclusive models show MATE’s sizes XS-3XL for all our curvaceous needs.
Community & charitable giving:
MATE is a member of 1% For the Planet.
Their contributions are distributed between four partners (which you can choose at checkout): Fibershed, Los Angeles Neighborhood Trust, Surfrider Foundation, and Women’s Voice For the Earth.
4. Pact
About Pact
Price Range: $38–$58
We’re big fans of the Colorado-based sustainable leggings brand, Pact, and their range of “Earth’s favorite clothing”.
There’s no better way to relax than to lounge in their soft and high-quality ethical leggings, while snuggling up with a good sustainability book.
Expecting mamas need this perhaps more than anyone, so check out Pact’s Maternity Purefit Legging.
Pact’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Their fair trade leggings are made predominantly with GOTS-certified organic cotton and between 8-11% of elastane and nylon for durability.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Pact is committed to working with sweatshop-free and child labor-free factories, some of which are Fair Trade certified. 74% of the organic cotton they use is sourced from India, which allows them to have a positive impact in different areas of the world.
Green business practices:
Sustainability is embedded in most of Pact’s operations–from their efforts to conserve energy and water to their use of recycled and compostable packages.
They also aim for zero textile waste by using fabric cutoffs for upcycled products.
Inclusivity:
Sizes XS-XXL are available.
Community & charitable giving:
Through their Give Back Box program, customers may return gently used clothes for donation to nonprofits using the boxes in which they received their orders. It doesn’t need to be Pact clothing, either.
5. Boody
About Boody
Price Range: $27–$85
This Australian-American brand has fallen head over booty for bamboo—which they view as the best material for comfortable clothing and eco-friendly tights.
Boody’s wishes for customers are simple: “Feel vibrant, serene, and relaxed everyday, wearing clothing you know fits who you are, naturally”.
With eco-conscious apparel for men, women, and children, build your essential collection with their ethical underwear, socks, and a pair of sustainable yoga leggings for running or relaxing or running alike.
They even have the oh-so-essential sustainable leggings with pockets.
Boody’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Boody’s main squeeze when it comes to sustainable leggings materials is bamboo fabric.
While we have reservations about bamboo production on the whole, Boody uses a closed-loop production process to make their bamboo viscose more environmentally friendly than most.
Their organic bamboo is also made using only non-toxic solvents and certified by ISO 9001, FSC, OEKO-TEX, and Ecocert.
Some styles combine bamboo with organic cotton, nylon (about 12%), and elastane.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Boody joins other ethical brands in ISO 14001 compliance and working only with WRAP-certified factories that prohibit child labor, sexual harassment, forced labor, and abuse.
Green business practices:
Working with SGS testing, Boody is able to ensure that all products (down to the eco-friendly packaging) are non-toxic and free of things like formaldehyde, azo dyes, and heavy metals.
Inclusivity:
Their eco-friendly fitness leggings run from sizes XS-XL, based on real body measurements, not “garment measurement”, so you know they’ll actually fit.
They also have some of the most affordable sustainable leggings we could find, making them a good choice if you’re on a budget.
Community & charitable giving:
Boody has partnered with a range of organizations like Goodbye Malaria and Circle of Love Center through their 1% for the Planet membership.
Also available at Boody AU
6. Humans Being
About Humans Being
Price Range: $73–$98
Whether you like to lounge, run, hike or go for a coffee in your sustainable leggings, UK brand Humans Being has your activities (and legs) covered.
Their collection isn’t huge, but they also offer bra tops, bodysuits, cycling shorts, sweatshirts, and joggers to match.
Most importantly, they strive to create an inclusive brand that will make you proud to show off your curves with either the Killer Curve sustainable seamless leggings and the Main Squeeze leggings.
Humans Being’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
With material such as GOTS-certified organic cotton and GRS-certified post-consumer recycled waste, they also incorporate the use of Antex, a zero waste fabric made from recycled plastic bottles and nylon.
With a small amount of spandex (5%), they’re striving for a better recycled solution to this component.
Supply chain & labor practices:
The brand can trace all entities involved in manufacturing, and their factories are SMETA-certified.
Green business practices:
To promote circularity and recycle ethical leggings, UK customers have the option send in their well-loved garments. Humans Being will recycle them through their partnership with Redskinned, and you’ll get 10% off future purchases.
They also prioritize eco-friendly materials for packaging and shipping.
Inclusivity:
Women’s XS-XXL are available.
Community & charitable giving:
We trust Humans Being to support our fitness goals and the planet, and rightly so because a portion of each sale supports World Land Trust.
They are working towards protecting 10,000 acres of land to save two million trees.
7. Threads 4 Thought
About Threads 4 Thought
Price Range: $48–$88
As you could probably guess from the brand’s name, Threads 4 Thought wants all of us to #WearThoughfully.
They may be located in the fast-paced city of LA, but they’re big fans of slow fashion.
We love lounging around the house in their loungewear and activewear alike—but don’t worry, they’re great for being active, too.
In addition to comfy classics like sweatpants and sweatshirts, they have a massive range of men’s and women’s recycled leggings, sporting both compression and stretchy soft styles for when you want the activewear without the “active”.
Threads 4 Thought’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Their solid colored and patterned recycled polyester leggings also include some virgin nylon and about 10-20% spandex/elastane.
Supply chain & labor practices:
They use four factories in Pakistan, India, Guatemala, and China, each of which has various backings, such as WRAP, Higg, BSCI, SEDEX, Fair Trade, and OEKO-TEX certifications.
To see how much thought they put into their supply chain, take a look at their Code of Ethics.
Green business practices:
Thread 4 Thought uses WAVE bio-polymer delivery bags made from cassava, meaning it will fully compost in the soil.
They also use Clean Color technology, a close-loop dye system that recycles 95% of the water and keeps harmful chemicals out of waterways.
Their Transparency Report includes things like the reasoning behind their fabric choices, how their factories do in terms of water consumption, and plans for future improvements.
Inclusivity:
Threads 4 Thought offers sizes XS-3XL for women and S-XXL for men’s leggings.
Community & charitable giving:
By partnering with the International Rescue Committee, a portion of the brand’s annual profits are sent to refugees and communities affected by disaster.
8. Patagonia
About Patagonia
Price Range: $79–$139
Patagonia is one of the most well known sustainable outdoor clothing brands because they understand that doing just ‘enough’ isn’t actually good enough for the climate crisis.
From luggage to head-to-toe clothing, Patagonia’s sustainable materials and transparency are outstanding.
They make some of the best ethical leggings (men’s and women’s) for yoga, running, rock climbing, or just lounging.
If you’re looking for sustainable thermal leggings for outdoor autumn and winter pursuits, shop their Capilene® baselayer collection instead.
Patagonia’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Patagonia uses an array of materials in their women’s eco-friendly workout leggings: recycled polyester, recycled nylon, and organic cotton (all with a tiny bit of spandex mixed in).
For the Thermal Weight options, you’ll find a Polartec® Power Grid® lining made of 92% recycled polyester. Not only are these sustainable fleece-lined leggings fair trade, but bluesign®-approved.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Fashion Revolution’s Fashion Transparency Index, consistently scores this Certified B Corp brand highly, due, in part, to them being Fair Trade certified.
Don’t take our word for it, though. Take a look at their Footprint Chronicles, which highlights exactly where every single product has been made and what each factory is like.
Green business practices:
Their efforts to reduce their impact are as numerous as the days in a row you wear their sustainable leggings—which is to say, a lot.
94% of Patagonia’s line uses recycled materials, they only use organically grown, recycled, or regenerative cotton.
They currently use recycled poly bags for their shipping, which can be recycled in their stores. However, they know that they can do better, so they’re currently testing alternatives.
Their Worn Wear program is a buy-back scheme for unwanted Patagonia gear. They repair it and resell it at major discounts. All new items also come with their IronClad guarantee, which offers free repairs for life.
Inclusivity:
Sizes range from XXS-XXL.
Community & charitable giving:
Patagonia founded 1% for the Planet to give brands a platform to give back. They also connect you with local charitable organizations to do so through Action Works.
They’re big advocates for educating other businesses on how they can improve their ethical practices, rather than just being satisfied with their own.
Founder Yvon Chouinard recently sold all his shares in the company to two environmental nonprofits, meaning profits benefit the planet rather than individuals.
9. Organic Basics
About Organic Basics
Price Range: $85–$90
Organic Basics keeps it simple and essential, because they know that “the fashion industry is dirty”.
Their A-Z guide to the Fashion Industry notes that over 2,000 chemicals are used in order to process textiles—not even 10% are approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
This Danish company is trying to do something about that with clean men’s and women’s clothing essentials, like tees and undies.
To literally top those ethical bottoms off, they also have some of the best sustainable seamless leggings around.
Organic Basics’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
After investigating some of the issues with ethical jewelry, we certainly wouldn’t have thought silver would be the solution for ethical yoga leggings, but OB does.
Organic Basics’ Active Leggings combine bluesign®-approved recycled silver salt with Polygiene® finish that helps to prevent the growth of bacteria and reduce odor. This is made from recycled electronic, industrial and photographic waste.
This fabric allows you to wear them more often and wash them less, keeping microplastics out of our waterways—just be sure to use cold water.
The sliver of silver aside, you’ll find virgin and recycled nylon and a tiny bit of elastane in their ethical women’s leggings. They’re working on reducing their reliance on these virgin materials.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Sustainable brands like OB always prioritize working conditions that go beyond “basic”.
As a Certified B Corp, their factories provide living wages, don’t use child labor, and are filled by workers who have freely chosen employment. Check out the clean details in the form of hours worked, vacation days given, and more on their site.
They’re also GOTS and SA8000-certified, BSCI-compliant, and visited regularly by the Organic Basics team.
Green business practices:
Materials are chosen based on environmental footprint and durability. Some are dyed using non-edible agricultural and herbal industrial waste, like beetroot and rosemary.
They predominantly work with recycled, renewable, natural, or biodegradable textiles. See the impressive impact this has had on the company’s footprint in their Impact Report.
Through 100% offsets, they’re carbon-neutral and encourage shoppers to buy climate credits through their website.
Inclusivity:
Their leggings fit sizes XS through XL.
Community & charitable giving:
OB is a member of 1% for the Planet and partners with three organizations that focus on rewilding natural habitats, regenerative agriculture, and ocean cleanup.
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How We Found The Best Sustainable Leggings Brands
What does it mean to be an ethical and sustainable legging brand? Is Alo Yoga sustainable? Is Fabletics ethical?
To separate the truly planet-positive from the simply popular brand names, we relied on our in-depth analysis of what ethical and sustainable fashion means. If you haven’t read it yet, we recommend you do.
If you’re short on time, however, here’s a quick summary of the things we considered:
Materials:
Sustainability starts by stretching our minds (and bodies) to think outside the way fashion has always been done.
The most sustainable leggings materials are organic ones, but because pure organic cotton leggings are still somewhat rare (linen and hemp fabric ones are rarer still), we have to make some concessions where performance is concerned.
We have a love/hate relationship with elastane. It’s great for Christmas dinner comfort, but as a polymer fabric (like polyester) made from petroleum (plastic), it’s not great for the environment.
Its production requires a lot of toxic chemicals and generally doesn’t last too long and doesn’t really have any recycling prospects, which is why you don’t see much recycled elastane.
For most activewear (including garments like sustainable sports bras), elastane (otherwise known as lycra or spandex) is what makes them able to withstand downward dogs or bending to get into the refrigerator (that’s a yoga move, right?).
So while the fabric itself isn’t ideal, it adds to the use and lifespan of leggings, so there’s a tradeoff.
While we have yet to come up with an eco-alternative that’s as stretchy as elastane, it’s hopeful to see that these brands are trying. When they do use elastane, they’re combining it with natural or recycled materials like organic cotton, bamboo viscose, and recycled nylon or polyester.
Keeping elastane percentages small (under 10% ideally) is another factor for us.
- Certifications: bluesign®, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), OEKO-TEX, Fair Trade, Forest Stewardship Certified (FSC), Ecocert, MADE SAFE, OSCI 100, ISO 9001
Supply chain and labor practices:
When we looked for the best eco-friendly leggings, we wanted to make sure that they were made responsibly.
Wary of greenwashing, we looked for transparency—brands who could back their claims of using safe working environments, paying fair wages, and partnering with responsible factories and suppliers.
While third party certifications aren’t bullet-proof, they are certainly a step in the right direction and show a brand is doing what they can.
- Certifications: Fair Trade, Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI), Social Accountability International (SA8000), Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production (WRAP), B Corporation, ISO 14001, SEDEX, Higg
Green business practices:
Sourcing sustainable legging materials is the most important factor when it comes to ethical leggings, but backing it up with other environmental practices is better.
Finding ethical leggings with pockets is exciting enough, let alone those made in a way that reduces water consumption, utilizes renewable energy, is produced with carbon offset programs, and comes in eco-friendly packaging.
Inclusivity:
No single garment is more essential than sustainable black leggings these days, so they should be available to everyone.
That’s why we looked for brands who make products for more sizes, deviate from the standard model, or offer ways for more people to afford their products.
Community & charitable giving:
We loved that these brands never call quits when it comes to giving back to people and the planet. Through staff volunteer days and charitable donations, we’re happy that a pair of active leggings walks the extra mile.
Final Thoughts On Eco-Friendly Leggings
Don’t you feel like slipping into some ethical leggings, your favorite sustainable hoody, and binge-watching the latest environmental documentary on Netflix now?
But before you do, always peek in your closet and grab the pair you already own or hop on your computer to shop at an online thrift store. This is not only the best thing for our pockets, but also for our planet.
As durable as brands might try to make them, they don’t last forever, especially given the modern lady’s love of living in them.
When you do need a new pair of leggings, consider supporting one of these brands who are fighting fast fashion, and share this article to keep the momentum going.
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When I put on leggings, I want them to be compression leggings. Most of these leggings don’t go beyond 9%. The throbbing I would get wearing something like that would be beyond miserable. Any suggestions for real compression leggings not just showcase leggings?
Hi Rivka, so sorry to hear about the throbbing. I’d say it will be tricky to find as most of the more sustainable legging options try to limit synthetic fabrics which I assume is what creates that compression. We’ll keep an eye out for compression options though, hopefully we’ll see some innovating brands who can do it!
All this inclusivity but none of these brands offer petites, do they?
Good question Mir, admittedly we haven’t come across petites specifically. We’d love to include some though so please do let us know if you find any that meet our sustainability criteria. Thank you!
So confused by the “inclusivity” section here when most of these brands only carry up to XL? That’s not considered inclusive, it’s standard.
Thanks for the feedback Lucy – we’re trying to use that section in a factual way so the reader can decide whether the brand is inclusive to them. If you’re looking for a list of brands that are properly size inclusive, this article might help