Three Sustainable Activewear Brands to Consider for Memorial Day Weekend

New Yorkers are coming up on month three of remote work. While other parts of the country are slowly reopening for business, we probably won’t go to a dinner party, a concert, or a restaurant until the end of summer (if not later). The fact that most of us live in small apartments only compounds the sense of cabin fever. That’s why this Memorial Day Weekend feels like a particular gift: Not only are we getting an extra day to unwind, take a long walk, and disconnect from our laptops, but the weather looks pretty good, too. Many of us will take the opportunity to get some exercise—perhaps outdoor yoga or a bike ride along the Hudson—and might be inspired to pick up some new workout clothes, too. Activewear and loungewear are among the only apparel categories that saw an increase in demand at the onset of COVID-19, understandably so; we’re working out at home and prioritizing comfort more than ever.

It’s great that we’re finding ways to destress and stay healthy, but when you pause to consider what most activewear is made of, the idea of living in it doesn’t sound so appealing. The majority of leggings and sports bras on the market are made of virgin polyester, which, for the uninitiated, is plastic; it’s derived from petroleum (i.e. oil) and is typically treated with chemical dyes. The implications are vast—air pollution, water pollution, not to mention the fact that petroleum is an energy-intensive, non-renewable resource. To make matters worse, we’ve come to view our workout clothes as a form of fast fashion: We buy them frequently and don’t keep them for very long.

As Nikki Reed, the actress, designer, and activist, points out: “We have a tendency to see the things we wear often as disposable. If you’re sweating in it and washing it a lot, there’s a sense that you want new, new, new.” She’s hoping her new recycled polyester leggings and sports bra for BaYou With Love, her line of recycled fine jewelry and eco-minded home goods, will offer conscious alternatives and help educate consumers. The material she sourced diverts plastic from landfills—where it would otherwise sit for hundreds of years—and can be recycled again and again without losing quality. (That said, you should still use a Guppyfriend filter bag to avoid shedding microplastics in the wash.) “I wanted to bring [my community] products with a meaningful story that they’re proud to wear, because I think once you give people ownership and the power to make decisions that have an impact, they feel like they’re a part of something bigger than themselves,” Reed says. “And at the end of the day, I think that’s what being a human being is all about.” Her long-term goal for BaYou With Love is to offer a take-back program for customers to send back their worn-out clothes to be recycled into new ones, creating a truly circular system.