Guide · 3 min read
Plastic-free fitness gear
Gym kit is quietly synthetic: PVC mats, foam blocks, microfibre towels. Natural materials grip better and don't shed.
Gym gear is quietly plastic: PVC mats, foam blocks, microfibre towels, and the bottled water that goes with them. Natural rubber, cork, stainless and cotton swap the plastics for materials that often perform better and last longer.
Hydrate without bottled water
An insulated stainless bottle ends the gym habit of single-use plastic. Bottled-water drinkers take in around 90,000 microplastic particles a year versus about 4,000 from tap, so this one swap does real work.
Mats and gear
A natural tree-rubber yoga mat and cork blocks skip the PVC and synthetic foam, and grip better as you warm up. For a serious investment, a solid-wood rowing machine replaces a moulded-plastic frame.
Towels
A 100% organic-cotton towel will not shed the synthetic microfibres that microfibre gym towels release in the wash.
Common questions
- Is natural rubber as grippy as a PVC yoga mat?
- Yes, often more so. Natural tree rubber and cork provide excellent grip, especially once you warm up and start to sweat, without the PVC or synthetic foam.
- How do gym towels shed microplastics?
- Microfibre towels are made of polyester and nylon, which release plastic fibres in the wash. A 100% organic-cotton towel avoids that entirely.
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