Bringing sweet success to a problem that was right under our feet.

If you have been practicing yoga for more than a few years, you may remember the old-fashioned sticky yoga mat.  It was soft and pliable, but felt somewhat like plastic.  And that is because it basically was plastic.

Back then, almost all yoga mats were made from PVC, which is a stable chemical that is, none-the-less, produced from toxic feed stocks.   It is also a very hard plastic that is used for making plumbing and other construction materials.  To make it sticky and pliable, the manufacturers needed to add softeners such as Phalates.   These chemicals are not so stable, are estrogen mimickers and can lead to health problems when people come into contact with them.

So, Green Yoga began to educate the community and campaign for alternative materials for yoga mats.

We found a manufacturer in Scotland that was producing a yoga mat with natural rubber and jute, and we brought it to the US to show manufacturers that it could be done. We also showed that people wanted to practice their yoga on a mat that was not made from toxic and unhealthy chemicals.

The message was loud and the message was clear. And the manufacturers heard us and now every major manufacturer is using non-toxic materials to produce mats. PVC is not totally gone yet. And some of the replacement materials are not perfect. Vigilance in this area is important.

Some other reading on Yoga Mats...

Rethinking Yoga Mats