Picking The Best Yoga Mat
Picking the best yoga mat for your practice can be a challenge. As we get closer to opening our new studio on the ACC Highland Campus we’ve been purchasing blocks, bolsters, blankets, and mats to support our student population. These days there are so many options in the marketplace that it can be difficult to choose the right one. Consumers have so many things to consider and we trust that our values are represented in the brands we select. What happens, then, when the brands we trust aren’t coming clean with their products? I recently ran into this issue when ordering retail products for the studio and found that thankfully, there are independent companies doing the research to identify gaps in information.
As I was pouring through the countless options for yoga mats available on the internet I stumbled upon Consumers Advocate, an organization that compiles third party market research for their clients and identifies gaps. In a recent article, Consumers Advocate researched several yoga mat vendors to verify that the materials, methods, and practices boosted by the companies actually held water.
To my surprise many yoga companies “greenwash” their products. They claim their products are eco-friendly when they are actually PVC products, a material that is not good for the environment or the practitioner. Apparently “greenwashing” happens regularly in many industries and it’s up to the consumer to do due diligence to make sure they are purchasing a product that is in alignment with their values.
In the process of reading Consumers Advocate’s article, I also learned about the Fair Trade Commission’s Guide For For The Use Of Environmental Marketing Claims. This document spells out the language companies can use regarding environmental claims. It was refreshing to know that there are so many organizations dedicated to checking in on the production of our yoga mats and blocks.
In the long run, the research documented in the Consumers Advocate report on eco-friendly Yoga Mats helped me to decided what yoga mats to carry in my studio, and now I can give my student base accurate and knowledgeable advice on which mats to purchase. I learned a lot from the experience. In the future, I’ll make sure to do my research before endorsing a particular brand. If you’re looking for a new yoga mat check out Consumers Advocate’s article on The Best Yoga Mats Based On In Depth Reviews.