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The Most Sustainable Underwear Brands

Manufacturing underwear requires a fair amount of resources — from growing and milling cotton to powering the factories to cut and sew them, and finally transporting them to you. If you want to choose underwear brands that use resources wisely, you’ve come to the right place.

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To choose the most sustainable underwear, we vetted over a dozen climate-friendly brands based on supply chain transparency, emissions tracking and reduction, and circularity. We also looked into labor and ethics, packaging and waste, and other environmental efforts. Based on our sustainability criteria, we rate brands on a scale of 1 to 5.

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‍Our Top Picks
‍How We Evaluate Brands ‍
Brands to Avoid

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Even if your underwear is on its last thread, it could still be recycled

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Textiles make up a sizeable chunk of our landfills, contributing to microplastic waste and methane. When you’re done with your underwear, you can send them to Subset or Trashie for textile recycling. These companies will capture whatever fibers can be reused in new garments, and responsibly recycle the rest.

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Commons’ Top Pick

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Price Point: $20 / pair (as of June 2024)
Locations: HQ in the U.S.; manufacturing in India
Transparency: 2022 Impact Report ‍
Size range: women 2XS-3XL; men S-2XL
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Subset’s underwear is a thoughtful basic with several styles for women and men, and a decent range of colors.

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Materials: We’re big fans of organic cotton, especially when it comes to underwear. Subset’s underwear are 95% cotton. Over 90% of Subset’s material profile is GOTS Certified Organic cotton, which is a natural and eco-friendly fiber. Subsets’s sustainability efforts are grounded in materials and that expands to packaging too. Orders ship in 100% plastic free and recyclable packaging, made with FSC-certified paper.
‍Supply chain & ethics: The brand works with GOTS and Fair Trade certified factories. These certifications works to ensure living wages, safe working conditions, the right to unionize, and no toxic substances. Subset also has its own Supplier Code of Conduct that Tier 1 and Tier 2 manufacturers sign onto.‍
Circularity: Subset works with Supercicle to take back used innerwear from any brand so that the’yre properly recycled. Lightly used bras are cleaned, sterilized and donated to communities in need. Other innerwaer is sorted by material. Garments that are predominantly cotton are made into recycled yard for apparel manufacturing. Garments made with predominantly synthetic fabrics are broken down into fiber lint to be used in furniture, insulation, and more. When you recycle with Subset, you can get up to $25 to use at the brand.

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Commons Community Reviews

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Reviews from Commons users who have bought from Subset.

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Quality: ★★★★★ Recommend to a friend: ★★★★★
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Pros: Love the materials and fit of Subset's underwear (hi-rise briefs in particular). Been purchasing them since 2021 in all the lovely colors they have! Bonus points it's a female-founded brand.
Cons: Underwear does stretch out a bit. Subset does recommend handwashing and air drying them (this is the preferred washing method for all delicate fabrics really).

— Liza M., June 2024, Liza has worn Subset underwear every day since 2021.

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Quality: ★★★★★ Recommend to a friend: ★★★★★
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Pros: I love that these are 95% organic cotton. I prefer high-cotton content underwear for the breathability, and these definitely fit the bill! I've tried multiple styles and find them all very comfy and wearable.
Cons: Because they have such a high cotton content, they do seem a bit prone to stretching. This hasn't really been too much of an issue for me yet.

— Sophie J., June 2024, Sophie has worn Subset underwear a few times a week since April 2024.

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Quality: ★★★★★ Recommend to a friend: ★★★★★
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Pros: This is my go-to everyday underwear. I love that it's 100% cotton, hugs and fits well, and feels good on my skin. It's well-made and have lasted me through the years. It's almost seamless too, which I love especially when I do hot yoga.
Cons: wish there are more high leg cut styles for underwear. Those styles are just more flattering.

— Kyna P., June 2024, Kyna has worn Subset underwear a few times a week since 2021.

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A More Affordable Option

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Price Point: $15-18/pair (as of June 2024)
Locations: HQ in Canada; manufacturing in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Turkey, and Vietnam.
Transparency: 2022 Impact Report ‍
Size range: women XS-XXL; men S-XXL

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Tentree’s underwear collection is pared down, but focuses on the tried-and-true styles: bikini and thongs for women; boxer briefs for men. There are three colors for each style. It’s worth noting that their underwear sizing only goes up to XXL.

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Materials: About 60% of Tentree’s material profile is organic cotton or cotton in conversion. When it comes to packaging materials, Tentree has made strides to reduce plastic by replacing plastic tag fasteners with organic cotton string, and eliminating individual poly bags on 85%-90% of its products in distribution. The mailers used for shipping to customers are made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic. ‍
Emissions: As a Climate Neutral Certified brand, Tentree measures, reports, and offset its corporate carbon footprint which includes the energy used for its headquarters and the emissions of all the goods and services used by its corporate team.‍
Supply chain & ethics: Tentree publishes all its manufacturing partners on its website which is an impressive testament to its transpareny. In 2022, the brand piloted a tool to trace over 185,000 of its garments raw material manufacturing through garment manufacturing.‍
Circularity: While intimates are not eligible for Tentree’s Circularity program, customers can resell used Tentree products or send them back for recycling to receive store credit.

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Commons Community Reviews

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Reviews from Commons users who have bought from tentree.

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Quality: ★★★★★ Recommend to a friend: ★★★★★

Pros: They are cotton and breathable. Simple and good buy, reasonably priced.
Cons: I haven't had them for long so I can't speak to durability.

— SP, June 2024Sanchali has worn Tentree underwear a few times a week since May 2024.

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Fun Design Pick

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Price Point: $10-15 per pair
Locations: HQ in UK; manufacturing in India and Turkey
Transparency: 2023 Impact Report‍
Size range: XS-4XL

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If you want to add some color and pop to your underwear drawer, Lucy & Yak could be the sustainable pick for you. With no solids in sight, the patterned underwear come in bikini and thongs for women, and the boyshorts are unisex.

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Materials: Lucy & Yak’s underwear are made 68% bamboo, 28% organic cotton, and 4% elastane. They’re colored using low-impact Oeko-Tex approved dyes.We love that the brand uses eco-friendly fibers across its product line, including GOTS Certified Organic cotton, GRS-certified recycled polyester, LENZING ECOVERO, deadstock fabric, and other natural fibers like linen, bamboo, and hemp.
Emissions: Lucy & Yak uses Greenly, a carbon accounting platform, to measure its carbon footprint and identify the greatest opportunities for reduction.
Supply chain & ethics: Lucy & Yak was accepted into the Fair Labor Association in 2023 and is a member of Sedex, a membership organization that helps companies manage and improve working conditions in their global supply chains.‍
Circularity: Lucy & Yak has its own branded buyback program available in stores and an official Facebook group to trade, sell, and buy Lucy & Yak products secondhand. Intimates like socks and underwear are not eligible for sale or trade through these platforms.

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Commons Community Reviews

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The Commons community has not reviewed Lucy & Yak yet.

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How Commons Evaluates Brands

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Commons' mission is to help you sift through the greenwashing to find the most sustainable choices for you. We're empowering a collective shift to more intentional spending while influencing brands to operate more sustainably.

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Commons’ Brand Ratings

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Best: Throughout their supply chains, these brands are taking responsibility for their impact on the people and planet. They're sustainability leaders in their industry, doing more than their fair share.
Good: These brands are exceeding expectations by actively reducing their carbon footprint and minimizing waste.
Fair: These brands are meeting the minimum sustainable efforts we'd expect from brands their size.
Poor: These are medium-to-large brands with fewer sustainability practices than we'd expect at their scale. These may also be small brands that lack public reporting on their sustainability goals or efforts.
Harmful: These brands are far from meeting the minimum sustainability efforts and reporting that we'd expect from them. Their business and manufacturing practices likely harm ecosystems and employees.

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Commons' Criteria and Methodology

Our criteria focus on the root causes of the climate crisis. Brands that excel in these areas are building more sustainable industries.

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Materials: How is this brand using sustainable materials, packaging, sourcing, and shipping to reduce its impact?
Slow Consumption: Does this brand encourage conscious consumption and facilitate long-term product use?
Accountability: Is this brand transparent about its sustainability goals and how it's working toward them?

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We aim to empower people to get what they need by buying less and buying better. When we do need to buy things, we can use our dollars to support brands actively building more sustainable economic systems. Here are some key tenants to our methodology:

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Transparency is crucial: Our approach is data-driven and expert-curated. Our team of carbon experts finds publicly available information to evaluate, summarize, and rate each brand.
Scaling expectations: We have higher expectations of big brands because they have a larger impact and resources to invest in more sustainable practices.
Evaluations are evolving: We may not always get it right. We welcome questions, feedback, or additional information. On each brand page, you can see the date each rating was last updated.

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You can see the full Commons Rating Rubric here.

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Brands to Avoid

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The business model of fast-fashion brands relies on overconsumption, unethical labor, and fossil-fuel-based fabrics. We recommend avoiding these brands when buying underwear or other clothing:

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