While contemplating life in the shower (obviously), we had an eco-epiphany about the necessity of sustainable towels. It makes little sense to use carefully selected eco-friendly shampoo only to dry ourselves in a bath of synthetic fabrics treated with toxic chemicals.
We feel cleaner already, knowing that’s not how our therapeutic showers have to end. Rather than defeat our scrubbing efforts, let’s clean ourselves and our dirty planet up, one eco-friendly towel at a time.
And that’s exactly what we’ve curated here. A list of options that are not only made of responsible materials but also by brands that prioritize low-impact dyes, ethical labor, and sustainable packaging.
While performance plushness and non-toxic materials are certainly a core consideration, it’s not all we’ll look at when selecting brands in the future. Our new Brand Rating System that we’re rolling out assesses a range of factors including climate action and biodiversity considerations. You can read here to learn more about our methodology.
We independently research all featured brands and we ask them to confirm their claims. In many cases we personally review recommended products. This post contains affiliate links which means we may earn a commission if you buy something. Learn more here.
Eco-Friendly Towels To Keep Your Conscience As Clean As Your Body
We’re quick to think of Slowtide’s collection of natural or recycled towels that support the ethical textile wave with certified fabrics and factories.
If you plan to hit the beach, look no further than Nomadix. Though designed for travel, their catalog of fun, fair trade towels made from recycled resources could easily add a planet-friendly pop to your home bathroom, too.
We love using Ettitude’s sustainable bamboo towels that are lightweight, super absorbent, and quick-drying. The Certified B Corp ensures ethical manufacturing with third-party certifications and its bamboo fabric is OEKO-TEX certified as free from harmful chemicals.
Index: Sustainable Towels
- Slowtide Jump to brand
- Cariloha Jump to brand
- Pact Jump to brand
- Delilah Home Jump to brand
- Nomadix Jump to brand
- Ettitude Jump to brand
- MagicLinen Jump to brand
- Coyuchi Jump to brand
- LinenCasa Jump to brand
Slowtide
About Slowtide
Price Range: $19–$195
Slowtide’s collection of sustainable bath towels will help you ride the slow fashion tides—and trust us, these towels are straight up fashionable. Luxuriously large bath towels aside, they produce towels for the beach, kitchen, gym, and everywhere in between—including your eco-friendly yoga mat!
Their prints take inspiration from pop culture and music, like The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, and Wu-Tang Clan—like the Staten Quick-Dry Towel with the infamous Wu-Tang Clan logo, made from 100% post-consumer waste.
Slowtide’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
All of Slowtide’s cotton is certified through the Cotton LEADS program™, ensuring responsible production and traceability in the supply chain. The quick-dry microfiber towels, fleece blankets, and camp blankets are made from 100% GRS-certified recycled consumer waste, primarily from plastic bottles.
All products exceed OEKO-TEX certification standards, meaning they do not contain any harmful or allergy-causing substances.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Slowtide works with global suppliers who share their values of accountability, and transparency.
They require their suppliers to participate in independent third-party audits, ensuring living wages, responsible labor environments, reasonable hours, and comfortable working conditions. Some of these third-party auditors include Sedex, SCAN, and Amfori BSCI.
Cariloha
About Cariloha
Price Range: $24–$49
Cariloha’s bamboo towels combine luxury and odor resistance in carbon-neutral products, like the ultra-absorbent and spa-like quality Bamboo Bath Towel.
You can also shop larger bath sheets, hand towels, washclothes, and robes to wrap up when it’s time to get out of the tub. All are available in a selection of calming beachy-inspired and earthy colors to compliment any bathroom decor scheme.
Cariloha’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Cariloha uses a unique blend of bamboo fabric and Turkish cotton which they call “Bamboo Cotton.” All are tested for toxic substances, bearing either OEKO-TEX 100 or OEKO-TEX Made In Green certification.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Cariloha’s raw bamboo is grown in the Sichuan province of China, by suppliers adhering to SFI sustainable forestry standards. It is then transformed into bamboo fiber in China’s Hebei province, woven and spun worldwide.
The Certified B Corp has Fair Trade partners in the U.S., China, Turkey, Mexico, and India, ensuring living wages and ethical working conditions.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
The Cariloha Cares Initiative is their path to reducing their overall carbon footprint. Cutting out all carbon emissions without offsetting is their ultimate goal, with land reforestation, solar, and wind power projects.
The brand also aims to use recyclable, FSC-certified packaging in all product categories and eliminate single-use plastic bags.
Pact
About Pact
Price Range: $20–$140
Broadly speaking, USA-based Pact and their range of home textiles and clothing makes quite the impact.
And their line of sustainable hand towels, bath towels, and wash clothes are no exception. For Turkish cotton towels, ethical meets super soft in the lightweight Airy Waffle Bath Towel.
Pact’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
100% GOTS-certified organic cotton is kind of Pact’s thing—and this is precisely what’s found in everything they offer.
Supply chain & labor practices:
The certified Fair Trade towels feel extra amazing because you know that soft organic cotton also supports cotton farmers.
Partnering with Indian farms and factories means that Pact not only reduces the geographical span of their supply chain, but also helps to support these communities by providing fair wages.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
They’re partnered with SimpliZero to offset the carbon footprint of their entire supply chain, shipping included.
Pact towels are packaged in a reusable bag, joining the rest of their reusable, recyclable, and compostable shipping materials.
Community & charitable giving:
Customers can use the boxes in which they receive their order to send back gently used clothes from any brand for donation through their Give Back.Wear Forward program.
Delilah Home
About Delilah Home
Price Range: $29–$99
Delilah Home is named after a puppy lost in the cold North Carolina mountains, where a whole community rallied to save her. Just like the story, this organic towel brand is built on resilience, sustainability, and community.
Clean up your home with their natural fiber bedsheets and luxuriously fluffy cotton towels for any room in the house.
Delilah Home’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Delilah’s beach, bath, and eco-friendly kitchen towels are made from organic Turkish cotton that’s certified by the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and Vegan.org. These ethical Turkish towels do not include any allergenic, carcinogenic, or toxic chemicals commonly utilized in traditional cotton production.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Delilah Home partners with Fair Trade factories, investigating every farm to see how crops are grown and employees are treated while crafting these fair trade towels.
Their OneCert certification ensures their entire supply chain is inspected, verified, and certified—extending from their warehouse in Charleston to their corporate office in North Carolina.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Delilah Home is also affiliated with the Organic Trade Association (OTA), Green America, and the Textile Exchange.
Nomadix
About Nomadix
Price Range: $24–$119
If you’re looking for a sustainable beach towel brand with products as adventure-ready as they are absorbent, Nomadix may truly offer The Only Towel You Need™.
Their ethical lightweight towels are perfect for travel, camping, yoga, days at the beach, and so much more. Beach goers will love the vibrant designs of their Original Towel alongside the sand, pet hair, and funk resistance.
Nomadix’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Nomadix’s eco dry towels are made from a blend of post-consumer recycled plastic bottles and recycled polyester that’s OEKO-TEX certified.
Supply chain & labor practices:
Each travel towel comes from a US factory that’s FLA-certified and committed to fair labor practices and safe working conditions. Nomadix sources materials as locally as possible to reduce the carbon footprint of its supply chain.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Nomadix holds a Climate Neutral certification. They are partnered with BEF and Carbonfund.org to support renewable energy and forestry projects, like wetland conservation and forest management.
They use recyclable cardboard shipping materials and compostable product bags.
Community & charitable giving:
Nomadix is a member of 1% for the planet, donating 1% of sales to organizations like Fifty-Nine Parks, Conservation Alliance, and Surfrider Foundation. 100% of proceeds from the Brave Trails collection goes to supporting LGBTQ+ youth.
Ettitude
About ettitude
Price Range: $24–$94
The eco-friendly towels at ettitude have attitude.
Made using closed-loop, sustainably produced bamboo, the Waffle Towels are ideal for stepping out of a hot shower, as they’re ethically made, delicate on the skin, and have quick drying benefits.
ettitude’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
ettitude’s towels are made from 100% organic and FSC-certified bamboo lyocell fabric, AKA CleanBamboo™ which is OEKO-TEX certified as free from harmful chemicals.
Supply chain & labor practices:
This Certified B Corp partner with WRAP-certified factories, ensuring living wages, safe working conditions, and zero child labor. ettitude visits its factories regularly to ensure responsible practices are maintained.
Their cut and sew partners are audited by SMETA and BSCI under strict ethical criteria, and their Code of Conduct agreement ensures all new suppliers uphold their standards.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Through a closed-loop bamboo manufacturing process, ettitude recycles all water and chemical solvents used.
They also have textile recycling programs in the United States and Australia, allowing customers to return their gently-used products for repurposing and credit.
ettitude has also partnered with CarbonClick to offset the carbon emissions generated by their business operations, including shipping and packaging, which is done in resealable bags designed to encourage reuse.
My Personal Review of ettitude’s Waffle Towel Set:
“I own a set of ettitude’s waffle towels and love how light yet insanely absorbent they are, thanks to the pocketed waffle weave texture. My only complaint is that the bath towel is not quite a large as standard towels so I can’t really wrap up in it as I like to.”
Review by Amber McDaniel, SJ’s Head of Content
MagicLinen
About MagicLinen
Price Range: $18–$74
MagicLinen is all about sharing the magic of this natural fabric. The family-operated Lithuanian business produces some of the highest quality linen towels (both bath and hand towels), bedding, clothing, and more.
Lightweight towels, like the Waffle Bath Towel, are gently exfoliating and naturally antimicrobial. Pairing one of them with say a linen bath mat is sure to up anyone’s bathroom hygiene routine.
MagicLinen’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Stone-washed linen (made from 100% European flax) is blended with cotton for maximum softness and a home spa experience. It’s OEKO-TEX certified, too.
Supply chain & labor practices:
MagicLinen works with a third-party agency to ensure their flax farms and factories keep all stages of production as ethical and respectful as possible.
Everything is local to Lithuania, so no wonder they’re a Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists member, a leading business organization in Lithuania committed to ethical and sustainable business practices.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
In addition to using a natural, readily biodegradable, and durable material in their ethical towels, MagicLinen recently partnered with an environmentally friendly packaging supplier. They now ship their linen clothing, towels, and other home textiles in mailers made from corn starch and PBAT (bio-based polymer).
Coyuchi
About Coyuchi
Price Range: $8–$238
California-based Coyuchi, has something “organic for every room,” including the bathroom, kitchen, and bedroom. They have a diverse catalog of sustainable bath linens, like towels, robes, shower curtains, and bath mats.
The Air Weight Collection is “the hardest working towel in the bathroom,” made from 100% organic cotton that’s bubbling (er, bubble bathing?) with certifications. Otherwise, the Organic Waffle Kitchen Towel is similarly a workhouse around the most important room of the house.
Coyuchi’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
Coyuchi has several collections , but all are made of 100% GOTS-certified organic cotton. The Mediterranean Collection is also MADE SAFE certified, while the Air Weight Collection is GOTS, MADE SAFE, and Fair Trade certified.
Supply chain & labor practices:
You can see in the product description where the towels have been grown and woven (either in India or Turkey). Regardless of which, the factories are Fair Trade certified. Going above and beyond Fair Trade, Couychi pays an additional amount into a Community Development Fund, which their workers can use as they wish or need.
Carbon commitments & green practices:
Each product lists its impact: how much drinking water and emissions are saved, and how much land is farmed without pesticides.
Coyuchi partners with factories that recycle water and only use recyclable/reusable packaging materials.
They also have a 2nd Home™ recycling service where you can return your used Coyuchi bed and bath linens to divert waste from landfills and get a discount on new ones. The materials are recycled or resold in partnership with the Renewal Workshop.
LinenCasa
About LinenCasa
Price Range: $28–$30
Husband and wife duo Tanya and Marco are the faces behind LinenCasa. As lovers of linen, they decided to turn their passion for this power plant into an ethical business.
They have an impressive catalog of hand towels, guest towels, bath towels, and bath sheets. They even make rustic kitchen tea towels too.
LinenCasa’s Ethical & Sustainability Practices
Materials:
As suggested by their name, LinenCasa’s material of choice is 100% stonewashed linen in medium or thick weights.
It’s all locally grown and OEKO-TEX certified.
Supply chain & labor practices:
LinenCasa works with Belarusian flax growers, who grow the plant (along with its beautiful blue flowers) fully before they harvest, which benefits pollinators and helps increase biodiversity.
The harvesting process is done by hand, including removing the seeds, breaking the stalks into smaller pieces, and spinning the long fibers into linen yarn to be made into sustainable dish towels in small batches.
