Image: Pact
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The Best Comfy & Organic Cotton T-Shirts
Ah — the classic t-shirt. Great for dressing up, dressing down, or just lounging around. Everyone already has this fashion essential in their closet, but there’s a good chance that the average t-shirt isn’t meeting the mark when it comes to sustainability. So if you’re in the market for a better T-shirt that’s more gentle on the planet, let’s take a look at some of the best organic cotton T-shirt brands on the market today.
Why organic cotton?
Since t-shirts are seemingly so simple, you might wonder why they’re not all the same. The truth is, conventional cotton can contribute to environmental degradation and unethical practices in many ways.
For one, ordinarily-grown cotton requires a large amount of pesticides and insecticides that can seep into the environment and affect both workers and nearby plants and animals. An example of this is seen in butterfly decline in agricultural areas with heavy pesticide use. Cotton also requires an incredible amount of water to produce, in part due to pesticide use and ineffective farming practices.
In contrast, regenerative agriculture and methods used to grow organic cotton use significantly less water while also reducing the amount of runoff that normally pollutes streams and waterways. Another important reason to choose organic cotton is because, like many of the brands on this list, most organic products also use fair-trade labor resources. This means that farmers and other people in the production line are paid and treated fairly, which is especially important in such a labor-intensive industry such as cotton.
One unexpected benefit of organic cotton is that it’s often more durable and long-lasting, both because the cotton itself is healthier when it’s picked and because the cotton doesn’t go through a ton of bleaching and other processing methods that can minimize the material’s integrity.
Therefore, if you’re looking for a t-shirt that has a better impact on the environment, you’ve come to the right place. And, since tees are so simple and often on the cheaper side compared to other sustainable clothing, this is a great place to start if you want to update your wardrobe to be more eco-friendly.
Our Favorite Organic Cotton T-Shirts:
1. Pact
Price: $24-44
Sizes: XS-XXL
Pact has become a go-to sustainable clothing brand, and for good reason.
They focus on organic, carbon neutral, and fair trade apparel for men and women.
For each item, you can click “learn more” about its sustainability features and see the actual factory where it’s made.
For example, the Portside Simple Crew saves 12 gallons of water, offsets 3 pounds of Co2 for the climate, and is made in an ethical factory with 247 people. This organic cotton t-shirt comes in five trendy colors and features a breathable cotton/linen blend.
2. The Good Tee
Price: Starting at $32 for one tee, $51 for the two-pack
Sizes: XS-3XL
The Good Tee is a fair-trade-first brand that emphasizes an ethical supply chain. They foster mutually-beneficial relationships with farmers, knitters, dyers, and everyone else throughout the process of making a sustainable t-shirt. Their Fave & Fair unisex tee comes solo or as a two-pack with one black and one white shirt. This ultra-soft tee is also made with Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) dyes, meaning it meets all standards for eco-friendly dyeing.
3. Fair Indigo
Price: Starting at $39.90
Sizes: XS-XL
Fair Indigo has a wide range of organic cotton tee-shirts for every occasion.
Their comfortable, sustainable tee-shirts are made with pima cotton sourced from Peru, which has a light stretch and is known for being more durable and breathable than basic cotton.
They also utilize low-impact materials that reduce the amount of chemical input into the environment while tracing its supply chain and visiting its suppliers regularly.
Fair Indigo’s organic scoop and v-neck tees are a great place to start for solid basics, and the slim short sleeve mock neck has everything you love about a comfy t-shirt with an elevated look that you can wear out or to work.
4. Harvest & Mill
Price: $48-86
Sizes: XS-XL
Discover elevated organic cotton basics in neutral and pastel colors that go with everything.
Harvest and Mill doesn’t only implement ethical supply chains; they also rebuild old supply chains by reopening heritage mills and leveraging their local sewing communities. Their t-shirts have a 100% domestic supply chain, with cotton grown, spun, and knit right in the USA. Their white t-shirts retain the true, creamy off-white color of organic cotton, rather than the bleached white often seen in white t-shirts.
The organic unisex style tee comes in a two-pack with both this white shirt and a black shirt. Since these are sized to be truly unisex, be sure to size down for a smaller fit.
5. Happy Earth
Price: Starting at $38
Sizes: XS-3XL
Happy Earth makes sustainable, polyester-free t-shirts with respect for every person involved in its supply chain. They also have a net zero facility, meaning they offset all of their emissions and invest in clean energy practices, and give back to the earth. You can choose to plant 15 trees, clean up trash, or avert greenhouse gasses with every purchase. Many Happy Earth t-shirts are adorned with beautifully-designed graphics that allow you to show your love of the earth and all its wonders.
For example, the all-gender Superbloom tee, available in short and long sleeve, features California’s native poppies, which light up hillsides across the coast. They also have a super soft, thick yet airy Premium-Weight Tee that’s perfect for fall days.
6. People of Leisure
Price: Organic band tees starting at $68
Sizes: S-XL
People of Leisure makes all of its clothes in Los Angeles and utilizes recycled, upcycled, and organic materials.
This brand was created by people who used to work in the fast fashion industry, and all of their processes are an attempt to dismantle the destruction wrought by the commercial apparel and footwear industries. They primarily feature rock n’ roll t-shirts, with graphics depicting bands like The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.
They also have basic tanks, tees, and hoodies like The Holly Tank and the Clementine Hoodie. Another reason to love People of Leisure is that they take their environmental impact seriously, and they’ve committed to four key sustainable development goals: clean water and sanitation, life on land, reduced inequities, and responsible consumption and production.
7. Tentree
Price: $24-45
Sizes: XS-XL
Tentree is an increasingly popular sustainable brand that’s dedicated to using their profits to help the earth.
In fact, they’ve planted 100,000 trees since their initiatives began and are on an incredible mission to plant 1 billion trees by the year 2030. With every purchase, they work to divert trash from landfills, conserve water, and protect critical resources.
Tentree has lots of fashion apparel and could outfit your whole wardrobe, but their t-shirts are comfy, supportive and made to last. They have scoop necks, v-necks and a variety of graphic tees, but the Organic Cotton Relaxed T-Shirt is the perfect staple that comes in multiple colors, and it won't shrink or fade with washing, so you can keep it for a long time.
8. MATE the Label
Price: $48
Sizes: XS-XL
MATE the Label is a Certified B Corporation that follows eight sustainable principles for their products, including using organic materials, fostering ethical working conditions, building a women-centered company and the elimination of plastic across all of their products.
Made in Los Angeles, MATE the Label t-shirts are on a mission to reinvent the fashion industry and put purpose over profit.
The Organic Cotton Classic Tee uses 88.6% less water than other leading non-organic t-shirt brands, and almost 30% less carbon. Find this shirt in colors like jet black, bone, sedona, safe and nettle.
9. The Classic T-Shirt Company
Price: $64
Sizes: XXS-XXL
The Classic T-Shirt Company makes luxury, organic cotton shirts for men and women that are sustainable made right here in the USA. Their high-quality shirts sit at a higher price point than average t-shirts but are designed for longevity, so you can feel confident that you’ll get many wears out of these comfy, yet durable shirts. Plus, 1% of all sales are donated to charities that support tree planting, ocean cleanup, & safe drinking water.
For basics, the women’s short sleeve crew neck t-shirt is made to flatter and comes in 17 beautiful colors with a wider size range than most other brands on this list.
10. Terra Thread
Price: on sale $15
Sizes: XS-XXXL
With Terra Thread, you can find carbon neutral fair trade factories and production processes that give back to the earth. This father-daughter brand belongs to the parent company Gallant International, which makes wholesale totes, tees, aprons, and more. Terra Thread’s Regenerative Organic Certified® cotton t-shirts are all genders and feature GOTS certified cotton — they’re also manufactured in a fair trade factory in India.
This incredibly soft t-shirt doesn’t have an itchy tag and has been known to keep its shape and color long after the first wear.
About the Author
Michelle Polizzi is an independent writer and storyteller with 7 years of experience creating content online. Her writing has appeared in leading publications like Bitch, WELL+GOOD, Insider, and Healthline, and she covers topics like sustainable living, mental health, and intersectional feminism. Currently, she's pursuing an MFA in creative writing.
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