Sustainable & Eco Friendly Bedding: 9 Ethical Brands To Tuck You In
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Is there anything cozier than a comfy bed? How about a bed topped with the best eco friendly bedding?!
And is there anything more annoying than counting sheep? How about counting environmental and social woes?! That’s just a straight nightmare.
Thankfully, we can all sleep sound tonight knowing there are sustainable bedding brands trying to change this.
If you’re in need of a quick nap, we can’t help but hit the snooze button thanks to PlushBeds’ affordable yet luxurious options, Naturepedic’s comfortable transparency. Pact has our vote for some of the best fair trade bedding around (a favorite of ours that keeps popping up). And Anchal’s sustainable unique bedding will catch any day dreamer’s eye.
So, take a shower, brush your teeth, get your ethical pajamas on, and snuggle up for some of the world’s sleepiest sustainable bedding around.
Oh, and if you want to know how we decided which brands made the cut, roll over to the end of the article for more detail.
QUICK LINKS FOR SUSTAINABLE AND ECO FRIENDLY BEDDING BRANDS
1. PLUSHBEDS
About PlushBeds
PlushBeds started out on a mattress mission: to provide “pure eco-friendly luxurious comfort at an unparalleled price point.”
They’ve not only done that with their line of sustainable mattresses, but also with incredibly affordable eco friendly bedding. Offering factory-direct products means more transparency, more sustainability, and some of the cheapest sustainable bedding prices.
You’ll find eco friendly bed sheets along with their range of comforters. Customers can choose from a variety of fabrics, colors, and sizes (twin, full, queen, king, California king, and oversized queen).
PlushBeds’ Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
The sheets from PlushBeds come in either GOTS-certified organic cotton, TENCEL (which we talk about more here), or French linen. They also have an eco-friendly bedding quilt comforter made from Eco-Wool® (100% made in the US, chemical-free, and cruelty-free).
Other (perhaps less environmentally-friendly materials) include: American-grown cotton (Supima), Portuguese flannel, microfiber, duck down, and bamboo rayon (which CAN be sustainable but we’re not sure if this is made in a closed-loop process) – we’ll be reaching to confirm.
Supply chain & labor practices:
While we don’t know a great deal about their supply chain practices for their bedding, they use sustainably sourced renewable resources and a US-based factory for their mattresses.
Green business practices:
PlushBeds works with TerraPass Carbon Neutral to calculate the emissions of running their website and offset this footprint by funding clean energy projects.
The brand is also a Green America Certified Business and member of the Sustainable Furnishings Council, working to promote sustainable practices in the industry. Here they join the ranks of many other excellent sustainable furniture brands.
Community & charitable giving:
Through their PlushBeds Green Scholarships program, the brand provides a $1,000 scholarship to a college student seeking an ‘eco-degree’ (with an environment-related major).
Available: PlushBeds
2. NATUREPEDIC
About Naturepedic
We’ll let this brand speak for themselves: “Since 2003, Naturepedic has been on a mission to transform the lives of our customers through safer, healthier sleep.”
While they specialize in mattresses, Naturepedic also has some of the best sustainable eco friendly bedding around, along with other eco friendly bedroom accessories like mattress toppers, protector pads, sheets, pillowcases, and pillow protectors.
This is also one of the few brands where you can get an eco friendly crib bedding set. They have every size—from a kids twin all the way up to California king.
Naturepedic was founded by an environmental engineer who wanted to design a chemical-free mattress for his first grandchild. So he made one. Today, they continue to avoid questionable chemicals and constantly express their care for the environment.
Naturepedic’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Naturepedic uses a sustainable bedding trifecta of OCS100-certified organic cotton, organic wool, and organic latex (for the mattresses and toppers only). All three are completely natural materials and thus compostable at end-of-life.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Naturepedic is family-owned and prioritizes working with artisans in the US (where their mattresses are made by skilled Amish craftspeople).
What Naturepedic can’t source or make in the US, they work with GOTS certified factories in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and India (all of which are regularly inspected and meet stringent requirements). All vendors are held to the highest standards, meaning that most have an impressive collection of certifications (including GOTS certified, GOLS certified, and Rainforest Alliance certified).
Green business practices:
In their 2019 Annual Sustainability Report, the brand highlights their impressive commitment to sustainability by choosing not only sustainable bedding materials, but also FSC-certified packaging, most of which is 100% recycled.
As a company, they are also GreenGuard Gold-certified, meaning that they have low chemical emissions, as well as having several programs in place to reduce production impact. They also have a program to help recycle old mattresses, which is so important because these are otherwise hard to dispose of responsibly.
Community & charitable giving:
Naturepedic has a range of community partners and they also regularly support organizations that share a commitment to a healthier, cleaner, and more sustainable world. Some of these include 1% for the Planet, Women’s Voices for the Earth, and Toxic-Free Future.
Available: Naturepedic
3. PACT
About Pact
There’s a reason we’ve featured Pact several times (like in our list of the most sustainable fashion brands). In fact, there are several reasons. They believe that “style & sustainability can coexist” and they’re using organic cotton and Fair Trade factories to prove it.
Based in Boulder, Colorado, USA, Pact is one of the biggest ‘small brands’ in sustainable clothing. In addition to activewear, clothing, pajamas, underwear and basics, they also sell some of the comfiest sustainable organic bedding around.
Sizes range from twin to California king and include eco friendly sheets, duvet covers, sham sets, pillowcases, and even crib sheets so the whole family can snuggle sustainably.
Pact’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Just imagine snuggling in GOTS Certified Organic Cotton while dreaming of how the organic cotton sateen and jersey sheets save at least 400 gallons of water during their production and aren’t associated with chemical and pesticide use…
Sounds pretty comfy, right? To top it off, their organic cotton eco friendly bedding comes in a reusable bag that can be used for storage or laundry.
Supply chain & labor practices:
You’ll have the happiest of dreams knowing the bedding is produced in Fair Trade certified factories in India. Pact’s Fair Trade program also goes back to the cotton farmer, providing them with finances to help end poverty in their communities.
Green business practices:
Not only does the bedding come in a reusable bag, but all Pact products come in recycled and compostable packaging. Aaaaaand they use carbon offsets for shipping.
Community & charitable giving:
Their Give Back. Wear Forward. clothing donation program means that customers can re-use the packaging they receive with their organic fair trade bedding order to send back gently used clothes. No, they don’t have to be a Pact brand. And yes, they will be distributed to someone who needs them!
Available: Pact
4. SLEEP AND BEYOND
About Sleep & Beyond
Founded by the Sardor family, Sleep & Beyond is a third generation family-owned bedding manufacturer. Since 1992, they’ve helped tens of thousands of people get the best shut eye—all with the help of organic and natural cotton and wool, both of which you’ll find in their eco friendly bedding sets.
When it comes to bedding, Sleep & Beyond has everything. Like sustainable comforters, pillows, mattress protectors, toppers, sheets, and pads.
While they only come in white and ivory, a variety of sizes are available: twin, twin XL, full, queen, king, California king, split king, and split California king.
This is also another affordable sustainable bedding option for those on a budget.
Sleep & Beyond’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Their eco friendly white sheets are made with either 100% GOTS and USDA-certified organic cotton or 100% OEKO Tex-certified natural cotton. In their comforters, they use either Woolmark-certified organic merino wool or natural merino wool. We’d recommend opting for the organic versions.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Sleep & Beyond is passionate about women’s empowerment. While they claim to rely on their expertise and skills, their website leaves us wondering how exactly they go about empowering women in their production areas. We’ll be reaching out to learn more about this.
They do, however, pay fair wages, have a no-tolerance policy of child labor, and support local economies around the world. They also detail which of their four factories produce each product, as well as which factories are certified Fair Trade.
Green business practices:
IFrom using 100% solar power at one of their ‘gardens’ (factories), to reusing every left-over raw material and shipping in reusable organic cotton bags, it’s clear they’re taking steps to becoming more sustainable.
Community & charitable giving:
Sleep & Beyond partners with two anti-human trafficking organizations: Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA) and Global Initiative to Free Trafficking Victims (GIFT).
Available: Sleep & Beyond
5. AMERICAN BLOSSOM
About American Blossom
American Blossom has been making eco friendly sheets for more than 115 years. When most textile jobs left the USA, they stayed. Even now, they’re still one of the few sustainable bedding companies that grow and process their own cotton in the USA.
So, if you’re interested in organic, sustainable, made in the USA bedding, look no further than American Blossom. Their sustainable sheets, pillowcases, and duvet covers come in a set (in sizes twin, full, queen, king, California king, and split king), and crib sheets are available, too.
American Blossom’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
American Blossom uses traceable USA-grown organic cotton for their organic eco friendly bedding. Those sheets feel even comfier when you find out that the cotton is grown by family-owned farms. You can even watch an interview with some of the farmers here!
Because they only come in white or natural (unbleached) colors, there’s no unnecessary dying.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Continuing the same trend along the supply chain, American Blossom also chooses to work with American families who have decades of textile heritage.
Wanting to support the industry and the jobs (especially when so many have been lost to exploitation in other countries), American Blossom is dedicated to supporting those they employ. They pay fair wages and offer additional benefits like healthcare.
Green business practices:
You can trace the organic cotton from where it’s grown in Texas to where it’s spun and woven in North and South Carolina. Unlike other textile companies, the bedding isn’t farmed in one country before being processed in another—and a huge amount of shipping carbon emissions are saved as a result.
The US-based packaging is also made from 100% recycled content and every year American Blossom saves 4,250 trees by using this!
Available: American Blossom
6. ANCHAL
About Anchal
Pronounced on-chal, Anchal was founded by sisters Colleen and Maggie Cline.
While on a design trip to India in 2009, Colleen was exposed to the exploitation in the textile industry. And at the time, Maggie was working in architecture, until their paths converged into the socially conscious project they now call, Anchal.
After becoming an official nonprofit in 2010, the sisters have impressed sustainable fashionistas with their range of scarves, bags, and home decor—including some of the best ethical bedding on this list. We love Anchal’s range of fair trade quilt bedding and pillows. While they don’t offer as many sizes as the other brands (mostly queen and king), they make up for it in unique color and patterning, which is clearly inspired by Colleen’s experiences in India.
Anchal’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
This sustainable and ethical bohemian bedding is naturally dyed, and made of 100% GOTS certified organic cotton. Unlike any other brand on this list, most products have a personal touch—a hand-stitched signature of the maker. Some even incorporate upcycled vintage saris!
Supply chain & labor practices:
If you couldn’t tell from the fact that each item is Fair Trade certified, Empathy is embedded into everything Anchal does:
“We facilitate impact by creating eco-friendly textiles and programs to train, employ, and support women who have been forced into sexual slavery, survivors of domestic violence, and women vulnerable to exploitation.”
In fact, 95% of their employees have been involved in the commercial sex trade, because they thought there was no other option. By working with Anchal, these women are able to afford health care and education for their children to help break this exploitative cycle.
Green business practices:
All of the recycled materials, organic fibers, and natural dyes are carefully sourced to minimize pollution and the effects on the environment.
Community & charitable giving:
As a non-profit, 100% of what Anchal makes goes into their programs and supports textile workers around the globe. One program, DyeScape, transforms vacant lots in Louisville, Kentucky into urban gardens to grow plants that can be used as a natural dye.
Available: Made Trade
7. SOL ORGANICS
About SOL Organics
SOL Organics was founded in 2010 by two friends who “decided that in order to fulfil their dream of creating textiles with integrity, they would need three simple ingredients: Organic cotton, equality for all employees, and people who really knew about cotton.”
And that’s exactly what they did. SOL offers both percale (light, crisp, and soft) and sateen (soft and silky) organic cotton bedding. They’ve got several colors to choose from and can fit any size bed—from twin to California king.
They sell not only some of the best affordable eco friendly sheets, duvets, and down comforters, but customers can also choose a complete bedding set (also super affordable!).
SOL Organics’ Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
This is one of the OG brands of OG (organic) cotton. Their organic cotton is not just GOTS certified, but Fair Trade and Oeko Tex certified, too.
They also use 100% certified European linen and responsibly grown and harvested Canadian down for their duvets.
Supply chain & labor practices:
After initially finding a list of reputable organic textile suppliers, the founders narrowed down the list by selecting ones that had third party certifications.
They then visited each factory until they found the best (and most transparent) one: an FLO-certified factory that sourced100% organic cotton directly from the farm.
Sleep soundly knowing SOL Organics’ bedding is made without child labor and means a fair price for their workers.
Green business practices:
By choosing organic cotton, SOL is able to report that they conserve and protect drinking water, reduce their carbon footprint, and aren’t associated with harmful chemicals.
Community & charitable giving:
With each bedding order, customers can choose to send a portion of their purchase to one of four charities. Currently, they’re supporting the Children’s Defense Fund, Hope for Justice, Water 4, and The Fund for Animals.
Available: SOL Organics
8. GRUND AMERICA
About Grund America
Grund America started in 1990 in Czechoslovakia, just after the fall of communism. Their earliest methods of humble production included a grandma’s bedroom and a stock-piled garage.
Fast forward and Grund America hit American soil in 2014. Devoted to bringing high-quality bathroom rugs to the world, Grund has done that—and more.
With products that are “safe for the earth, safe for you,” Grund has expanded their initial range to now offer environmentally sustainable bedding. They now offer a small range of some of the supposedly softest eco friendly sheets that can be topped with a matching duvet cover and a throw blanket (all organic).
They offer three general sizes: twin, full/queen, and king.
Grund America’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
The 100% certified organic cotton used in Grund’s products is also OEKO-Tex 100 certified.
Supply chain & labor practices:
We don’t know too much about Grund’s supply chain and labor practices, but we do know that they’re certified by GoodWeave International, which certifies their child-labor-free rugs. We’ll be reaching out directly to confirm their manufacturing and sourcing policies.
Having said that, it is encouraging to see they’re also members of Textile Exchange, a non-profit that wants to transform the textile and fashion industry and improve its traceability.
Green business practices:
Grund has partnered with FSC (but we’re not sure in what capacity). Each kilo of their organic cotton has saved 10,000 liters of water and has saved countless farmers from asthma, miscarriages, and cancer associated with the chemicals in conventional cotton.
Available: Grund America
9. BOLL & BRANCH
About Boll & Branch
“Change your sheets, change the world.”
Scott and Missy Tannen, the co-founders of Boll & Branch started their company in 2013 to reflect this simple sentiment: know where and how bedding is made, and support the workers who make it.
With a heightened sense of responsibility following the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh, they also wanted a supply chain they could be proud of.
And voila, one of the best eco friendly bedding brands was born. Boll & Branch also has eco friendly sheets (and sheet sets), pillowcases, duvet covers, blankets and quilts, complete sets, and even sustainable baby bedding. Varying sizes, styles, and thread counts are all covered, too.
Boll & Branch’s Ethical and Sustainability Practices
Materials:
From the ethical duvet covers and bedding down to the sustainable sheets and pillowcases, it’s 100% organic cotton, 100% of the time.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Boll & Branch was the first manufacturer of linens to become Fair Trade Certified. Since then, they’ve paid an additional $500,000 to their factory workers and farmers to ensure they receive living wages.
Green business practices:
Not only is the organic cotton farmed in a way that’s better for the environment, but all of their sustainable fair trade bedding materials are also shipped by boat rather than air. This has saved 21,252 metric tons of carbon emissions!
But it doesn’t stop there. 100% of their products are made without harmful chemicals, they use responsible water management, and everything is packaged in recycled paper that can be recycled and/or composted.
Community & charitable giving:
With their Helping From Home program, they’ve donated nearly 8,000 new mattresses and pillows (and counting) to those in need.
Available: Boll & Branch
HOW WE FOUND THE BEST SUSTAINABLE AND ECO FRIENDLY BEDDING BRANDS
So, how did we properly fold the fitted sheet to find the best of the best in terms of ethical bedding?
Well, it all started with our sustainable fashion criteria. And while this isn’t fashion per se, the very same considerations apply like using environmentally friendly materials, having a transparent supply chain, and implementing green business practices.
Keep reading if you want to know how we fold down the duvet and plump up the pillows for eco friendly bedding!
Materials:
Materials are always the most important considerations for us—especially when it comes to things like sustainable sheets, there’s really not too much else there! Not only did we look for bedding that feels good on our sleepy heads and skin, but we also wanted to make sure that it feels good for our planet.
Most regular bedding is made with conventional cotton, which uses more insecticides than any other crop and is one of the thirstiest too. It also degrades the soil and puts the health of farmers at risk (thanks to exposure to too many pesticides and fertilizers!). It’s time we put conventional cotton to bed.
We’re glad to see that brands are hopping on board the organic cotton train, because it’s the crème de la crème of bedding textiles. Organic cotton not only forgoes all the harmful chemicals of conventional cotton, but uses less water and less land to grow.
While organic cotton is certainly the most prevalent on our list, other sustainable bedding fabrics include linen, TENCEL lyocell or modal, and bamboo (just ensure it’s made via a closed-loop process with non-toxic chemicals).
- Certifications: Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), OCS100, Fair Trade, and Oeko Tex.
Supply chain & labor practices:
While ethical bedding companies aren’t faced with the exact same issues like those in the jewelry industry, the textile industry is still fraught with child labor abuse, sweatshop conditions, and exploitation. So, we looked for brands that are committed to safe working conditions and went the extra step to ensure good benefits and fair pay for their workers.
We also like to see traceability of their suppliers (meaning the brand actually knows where their materials come from) and transparency of practices.
- Certifications: Fair Trade, FLO-certified, GoodWeave International, and Textile Exchange.
Green business practices:
While most of the sustainability in these brands comes from the materials they source, we also looked into any extra efforts they were making. From using 100% recycled plastic-free packaging to purchasing carbon offsets. We love brands who weave sustainability into all of their practices.
Community & charitable giving:
When looking at the best ethical bedding companies, there’s nothing better than super soft sheets made by a brand that gives back. While it isn’t always a hard and fast requirement for us (as we understand small startups may not have the funds to do so), most of the brands here have made efforts to give back to charity organizations or the communities they work with.
Final Thoughts On SUSTAINABLE BEDDING
There’s only one thing better than turning down the bed at the end of a long day…knowing that you’re tucked in between eco friendly and sustainable sheets!
We’re so glad to see so many brands hopping on the sustainable bed train. And speaking of beds, check out our article on eco friendly furniture for some eco friendly bed frames to complete your sustainable sleep set!
And speaking of your bedroom— are there any great bedding brands that we missed? As always, this article is a work in progress and we’d love your feedback in making it better!
