When shopping for sheets, choose those made out of organic cotton, linen, hemp, or Tencel. Our favorite sheets are certified by GOTS, OEKO-TEX, Fair Trade, or the Forest Stewardship Council. These certifications protect the environment and the people making our sheets. 

Materials

Cotton

Cotton is the most popular sheet material due to its soft fibers, breathability, and absorption, and it’s also the most widely used natural fiber on the planet. Unfortunately, it is a water-intensive crop that takes a significant toll on the soil and is associated with deforestation. Cotton is also particularly vulnerable to pests and other insects, which has led to a flourishing agrochemical industry around its cultivation. Almost 5% of global pesticide sales and 10% of global insecticides sales come from the cotton industry. Luckily, some cotton is grown in ways that can be kinder to our planet (see organic cotton below). In general, a plant-based material like cotton requires less energy to manufacture than a petroleum-based alternative like polyester. 

Organic Cotton

Organic cotton is grown without relying on the use of harmful chemicals, leaving the soil, air, and water with fewer contaminants. In an LCA looking at the differences between organic cotton and conventional cotton, the Textile Exchange found that organic cotton produces 46% fewer greenhouse gas emissions, creates 70% less acidification of land and water, the potential for soil erosion drops 26%, surface and groundwater use falls anywhere from 48% to 91%, and the demand for energy can drop by as much as 62%. While we think sheets made with organic cotton are the best option, we recognize that they’re harder to come by. Less than 1% of all cotton produced is organic.

Linen

Linen is one of our favorite bedding materials. It’s incredibly breathable, durable, and temperature-regulating. Linen gets softer over time, and though it is usually more expensive than cotton, it tends to last longer. It’s made from the fast-growing plant flax, which is primarily grown in boreal forests that are not associated with deforestation. Plus, linen uses far less water over its life cycle than cotton. While pesticides are hardly used in flax cultivation, it’s better to get linen sheets that are certified organic by the Global Organic Textile Standard. 

Hemp

Hemp is like the valedictorian of bedding materials. The production of hemp is carbon-negative, which means it absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere during its growth than is emitted during its cradle-to-gate processes. Additionally, hemp requires half the amount of water and land that it takes to grow cotton and can be grown without any herbicides or pesticides. Crop yield is also a huge factor in assessing the sustainability of how materials are grown. One acre of hemp will yield 2-3 times more fiber than one acre of cotton. If we haven’t converted you to team hemp yet, know that hemp sheets are highly breathable, absorbent, strong, and hypoallergenic, which should have you resting easy. 

Bamboo

Bamboo is a fast-growing resource that stores four times more carbon dioxide and releases 35% more oxygen than the average tree. This means that bamboo is able to fight climate change more efficiently than most trees by removing greenhouse gas pollution from the atmosphere at a faster pace. Not bad! Unfortunately, not all bamboo products are created equal. Creating bamboo viscose involves a chemical-intensive manufacturing process through which workers are exposed to waste, including carbon disulfide, which is linked to neurological problems. Even though we prefer it in paper products, bamboo just doesn’t do it for us when it comes to sheets.

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber that is produced through a process called sericulture, which involves cultivating silkworms to extract silk from them. Silk farms require energy-intensive temperature-controlled environments and harvesting cocoons uses a ton of hot water and hot air. There are also some animal welfare concerns around silk: the mulberry silkworm does die in the production of this textile. Silk is just not great from an environmental and ecological standpoint. Studies have shown that the carbon footprint of silk is equal to or more than that of some synthetic fibers and that the commercial production of silk has a larger environmental impact than that of Chinese cotton, nylon, and wool. We think it’s best to avoid silk. 

Polyester

Polyester is a synthetic material that is popular for its durability and low price tag. Sure, durability and accessibility are both great, but polyester has major downsides, including the fact that it’s derived from fossil fuels. Extracting petroleum (which is needed to produce polyester) involves drilling and fracking, which have a host of negative environmental consequences (*cough*, oil spills, *cough*) that are not infrequent and can devastate already fragile wildlife populations. The environmental effects of drilling overwhelmingly impact people of color and low-income folks, who are more likely to live in communities near these sites. 

If that wasn’t bad enough, the chemical treatments used by polyester manufacturers are toxic and known to cause neurological damage and even cancer at high levels of exposure, putting factory workers at risk. Plus, every time polyester gets washed, it sheds tiny pieces of plastic threads that enter our waterways and devastate marine ecosystems or even find their way into our bodies. The Plastic Soup Foundation estimates that up to 35% of plastic pollution in our oceans comes from microfibers shed by synthetic fabrics. We’ll pass!

If you really prefer polyester sheets, look out for ones made with recycled materials. Recycling polyester uses significantly less energy than making polyester from scratch. Studies have found that using recycled polyester cut water requirements in production by two-thirds and that using recycled polyester could lead to a 59% reduction in energy use.  

Tencel

Tencel is a man-made fabric, but unlike polyester, it isn’t synthetic. In fact, Tencel is made from eucalyptus and beech wood pulp and is produced in a closed-loop system. This means that 99% of water and organic chemicals are recycled to process the next batch of Tencel fabric. Closed-loop systems are awesome because they prevent resources like water and chemicals from being wasted or released into the environment and instead rely on the reuse of resources to fuel the system. All Tencel is made by Lenzing AG and 99% of their wood comes from FSC-certified sustainable forests. While this renewable material has one of the lowest environmental impacts of conventional textiles, it may not be a perfect substitute for cotton. Some people think it feels processed, and even Lenzing reports that it’s much silkier than cotton, so give it a try before committing.  

Certifications

Here are some certifications to look for when shopping this category.