Where to Buy High-Quality Used Yoga Pants
Image: Shellygraphy on Adobe Stock
According to The World Bank, the fashion industry accounts for 10 percent of global emissions, uses an egregious amount of water, and contributes to plastic pollution. Purchasing pre-owned clothing can help decrease these deleterious impacts.
Many people have a mental block against buying used yoga pants, but it’s actually a great way to both cut costs and your environmental footprint. Most yoga pants are made out of stretchy materials that damage the planet throughout their entire life cycle, from extraction through production and disposal.
The reservations tend to circulate around the idea that it’s “gross” to wear used yoga pants because someone else sweat in them. Thankfully, these seem to be unfounded concerns. Doctors say that as long as you wash the pants well, (some recommend in really hot water), residual sweat or bacteria should no longer be a concern. Additionally, you can seek out used yoga gear that has been gently used, rather than a pair of pants that has been worn down to their last leg. People often sell or donate yoga pants after one or two wears when they realize they don’t like the fit or style.
To increase the sustainability of your yoga pants, you can also buy used gear made by brands that already have a sustainability mission, such as Girlfriend, who makes yoga pants out of recycled plastic or Athleta, which is a certified B Corp.
Here are a few places where you can find high quality used yoga pants:
Used Yoga Clothing Stores
Some cities have local stores that focus on used yoga and athletic wear. Not only do these stores help build a more sustainable community, purchasing locally also helps decrease carbon emissions from shipping.
The Yogi Exchange in Denver, Colorado and Revive Athletics in Portland, Oregon are two examples of community-based yoga clothing resale stores. If you don’t live in a city with a store that features used athletic wear, you can also try your hand at your local thrift stores or outdoor consignment shops.
Used Yoga Pants Online
There are also wonderful resources for buying used yoga pants online. Both thredUP and Poshmark can be great places to find gently used (and even new) yoga clothes. Lululemon has also launched a resale platform called Lululemon Like New. In the UK, The Good Fit is a go-to shop for sustainably-minded yogis.
Gently used yoga pants available on thredUP
While your personal fashion choices aren’t by any means the main contributor to climate change, making the decision to buy used can help shift the demand from a destructive system to a more sustainable one.
