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If you’re looking to make non-toxic, eco-friendly swaps for a cleaner, lower carbon-footprint bedroom, your pillows are a good place to put your focus. Products like conventional pillows are known to be made with particularly toxic materials—like flame retardants, formaldehyde, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). And when you’re spending many hours resting your head on a pillow, those toxic chemicals can have harmful presences in your daily routine.
If you want a safe (and sustainable) spot to rest your head at night, you can turn to organic, non-toxic, and eco-friendly pillows. In this guide, we found the best organic pillows for all types of sleepers.
Best Overall Organic Pillow
BEST OVERALL
Avocado Green Pillow
Avocado is a well-known and well-loved brand in the non-toxic, organic pillow and mattress space (they earned our number one spot on our best organic mattresses list, too).
Avocado’s Green Pillow is an adjustable fill organic latex pillow made for all types of sleepers. It’s made with shredded GOLS-certified organic latex mixed with GOTS-certified organic kapok tree fiber. Kapok is smooth and fluffy, and a good vegan and eco-friendly pillow alternative to down. The pillow is then encased in a GOTS certified organic liner that gets bonus points for being (easily) machine washable. The pillow starts as a medium-fill pillow (making it suitable for side-sleepers), but is completely adjustable. You can easily add more or less fill, and it even comes with an extra bag of latex and kapok fill in case you want more firmness.
We love a lot of qualities about the Avocado brand. Their products are incredibly well-reviewed, and the Green Pillow is no exception. It gets 3,600+ 5-star reviews. We also like that it’s relatively well priced for an expensive industry, at $89 for a standard size.
But Avocado stands out from the rest of the organic pillow pack by holding the most safety certifications in the industry, and doing the most implement sustainable business practices. Avocado not only holds all the organic latex, cotton, and wool certifications you should pay attention to, but it also holds all the non-toxic certifications that really matter—Made Safe, GreenGuard Gold, Eco-Institut and Oeko-Tex Standard 100, Class 1.
We also love that they’re certified climate neutral, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, certified Clean Energy Partners (meaning their factories use wind and solar power), certified vegan by Vegan Action, and they’re a certified B corp. Put simply, they’re doing the most out of any organic pillow brand, and producing really well-loved products, which is why they are our top pick for best organic pillow.
What Customers Love
- The pillow was effective at reducing neck and back pain.
- Soft but supportive, and replaced the need to use multiple pillows.
- Perfectly molds around your head.
What Customers don’t love
- Some find the inner filling annoying to handle.
- Some feel like the pillow is too firm no matter how much they adjust the filling.
Other Organic Pillows We Love
Best Organic Latex Pillow
Organic Latex Pillow
Coyuchi
Coyuchi Turiya Organic Latex Pillow
If you’re looking for vegan, non-toxic pillows, organic latex is often the material you’ll come across. Coyuchi’s Turiya pillow stands out as the best organic latex pillow on the market.
The Turiya pillow is made with a thick layer of GOLS-certified organic latex, wrapped in a 100% organic cotton liner. Unlike the Avocado Green Pillow, this organic latex pillow is one, solid layer. It stands out by being built to relieve pressure for both side and back sleepers. The latex layer is designed to create a cradling sensation that offers proper spinal alignment.
The Coyuchi Turiya organic latex pillow is a Made Safe certified product, so you know that it’s free of chemicals that are potentially harmful to human health. We also love that their cotton is Fair Trade certified, and they’re partnering with the White Buffalo Land Trust to practice healthy and sustainable soil and farming practices. Plus, they’ve implemented a lot of initiatives that minimize their fabric, plastic, and water waste.
The Turiya organic pillow gets over 200 5-star reviews, and users love that they sleep through the night without waking up with a sore neck.
Another Great Organic Latex Pillow
Another Organic Latex Pillow
PlushBeds
Shredded Natural Latex Pillow
While Coyuchi’s organic latex pillow comes with a thick layer of organic latex, there are shredded organic latex pillows that might provide a softer experience for back or even stomach sleepers.
PlushBeds’ Shredded Natural Latex Pillow is another great bet for a latex organic pillow. It’s made with GOLS-certified organic latex that’s finely shredded, allowing sleepers to fluff and mold their pillow. It’s wrapped in a GOTS-certified organic cotton lining.
We love that the PlushBeds organic latex pillow holds lots of certifications you can be sure make this product non-toxic. It’s GREENGUARD Gold certified, OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 certified, and Eco-Institut certified. We also love that they’re Rainforest Alliance and Forest Stewardship Council certified, too.
Best Budget Organic Latex Pillow
Budget organic latex pillow
Happsy
Organic Latex Pillow
There aren’t many budget-friendly options in the non-toxic and organic pillow space. Sourcing high quality, certified materials and crafting pillows with sustainable business practices just makes everything a bit more expensive.
If you want a cheaper non-toxic pillow that doesn’t sacrifice quality, the Happsy Organic Latex Pillow is a good bet at $59 for a standard size.
The Happsy pillow is made with a GOLS-certified organic latex core, and is wrapped in a GOTS-certified organic cotton liner. This organic cotton pillow is designed so that the latex is both soft and supportive, providing the proper alignment for all types of sleepers. Some reviews claim that they found the pillow more comfortable when sleeping on their back, though. Other customers loved that the pillow was soft and comfortable but also high quality and has lasted forever.
The Happsy pillow also holds an impressive amount of meaningful certifications—like Made Safe, GREENGUARD Gold, and Formaldehyde-Free. They’re also certified Climate Neutral, FSC certified, Rainforest Alliance certified, and Green America Gold Business certified (meaning they adhere to business practices that meet the needs of employees, communities and the environment). These certifications put them ahead of competitors, making them one of the best organic pillows for those looking for a more affordable option.
Best Organic Pillow for Side Sleepers
Organic pillow for side sleepers
Naturepedic
Organic Solid Latex Pillow
If you sleep on your side, you generally need a pillow that’s a bit thicker and loftier to keep your neck aligned with your side and give you extra support.
If you prefer to sleep on your side, the Naturepedic Organic Pillow is one of the best organic pillows available. It comes with a high loft of 5.75 inches for the queen size, and provides ample support for neck and spine alignment if you sleep on our side. In fact, if you’re not a side sleeper, this pillow probably doesn’t have enough give for you.
It’s made with a thick layer of GOLS-certified organic latex, and is lined with a GOTS-certified organic stretch knit. We love that it holds non-toxic certifications you can trust—like Made Safe and GREENGUARD Gold. It’s also a Rainforest Alliance Certified and 1% for the Planet brand.
Another Great Organic Pillow for Side Sleepers
Organic PIllow for Side Sleepers
Birch
Organic Pillow
Birch’s organic pillow is a good option for side sleepers who do need a bit of give and softness in their pillow. It’s still a lofty, supportive pillow, but comes with both a latex core and a wool layer that provides a bit more plushness than the Naturepedic organic pillow does.
The Birch organic pillow is made with GOTS-certified organic cotton and wool, and non-toxic, natural talalay latex. The core is a shredded latex material, and then the wool gets wrapped around that. The wool also provides a moisture-wicking, temperature-regulating quality that works well for side sleepers. Their products are OEKO-TEX, ECO-Institut, and GREENGUARD Gold certified, meaning they’re safe for humans to use and safe for the environment. Birch also stands out by having their farms comply with the PGC Wrightson Wool Integrity Program—guaranteeing their sheep are free-range and pasture-fed.
Best Organic Pillow for Back Sleepers
Organic Pillow for Back Sleepers
Coop Home Goods
The Original Pillow
If you sleep on your back, you still need a pillow that’s a bit thicker, but doesn’t have as high a loft as a pillow for a side sleeper. You also want something that will be soft and give around your head, without completely losing its fill.
The Coop Home Goods is a great non-toxic pillow option for back sleepers because it comes thick and firm to begin with, but it’s easily adjustable to get the exact softness you need to support your neck. It’s made with non-toxic shredded memory foam and microfibers, wrapped in a polyester and bamboo-rayon casing. You can easily unzip the pillow, and scoop out a bit of filling to make it the exact firmness or softness you need. Given the fact that it’s totally customizable, it’s also a great non-toxic pillow for stomach sleepers who need even less loft.
While this isn’t considered an organic or natural pillow, it is certified non-toxic by reputable organizations. It’s earned a GREENGUARD Gold and CertiPUR-US® certification, meaning that it’s been heavily tested to meet the top safety standards for human health.
The Original Pillow is also one of the better reviewed pillows out there—organic and conventional included. It has almost 14,000 reviews that average at 4.7 stars on their own website, and over 30,000 5-star reviews on Amazon. It’s also really well-priced for a high quality, non-toxic pillow at $59 for a standard size.
Best Organic Wool Pillow
organic wool pillow
LifeKind
Certified Organic Spiral Wool Pillow
Organic wool pillows are a great option if you want a supportive, lofty, and long-lasting pillow. They’re typically good replacements for polyester or cotton-filled pillows.
The organic wool pillow from LifeKind is a great option. It’s made with 100% GOTS-certified organic wool filling, and a GOTS-certified organic cotton cover. They offer three different fill levels, so this pillow can work well for any type of sleeper. Wool is known to be a moisture-resistant, cooling pillow fill, and it’s also a natural flame retardant. You can be sure that LifeKind doesn’t use any chemical flame retardants because of this. We also love that this organic wool pillow is 100% handmade in the USA.
While it only gets 80 reviews, almost all of them are 5-stars. Customers love the thickness of this organic pillow and the fact that the filling doesn’t spread, so it keeps your head from sinking down.
Best Non-Toxic Foam Pillow
Non-Toxic Foam Pillow
Brentwood Home
Crystal Cove Activated Charcoal Pillow
If you love a foam pillow but are looking to make a healthy swap, filter your search for certified non-toxic pillows.
Brentwood Home’s non-toxic foam pillow is made with activated charcoal-infused memory foam. It’s meant to be cooling and restorative—activated charcoal draws heat away from the body, keeping your temperature regulated at night. Most importantly, this memory foam is certified non-toxic by CertiPUR-US, GreenGuard, and by OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100. While most conventional foams are synthetic materials that off-gas harmful chemicals, the Brentwood Home pillow has been rigorously tested to not emit chemicals or pollutants—like VOCs, formaldehyde, and phthalates. We also love that Brentwood Home is a certified Climate Neutral brand, using a 100% renewable energy-powered factory, and offsetting the rest of their emissions.
The Crystal Cove Activated Charcoal Pillow gets over 100 5-star reviews. Users love that this organic pillow has absolutely no chemical foam smell. Lots of users have turned to this pillow as a replacement for organic wool, latex, or cotton pillows for both softness and support.
Best Organic Down Pillow
Organic Down Pillow
SOL Organics
Organic Cotton Down Pillow
Lots of organic pillow brands don’t use down as a material as a way to practice ethical manufacturing or to stay vegan, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t brands making organic down pillows responsibly.
If down is your choice material for a pillow, the SOL Organics Organic Cotton Down Pillow is a your best organic pillow option.
It’s made with 100% Canadian white down, and 100% GOTS-certified and Fair Trade organic cotton proof. It has a baffle box construction, meaning that the down filling will stay evenly dispersed throughout the pillow even when you lay your head on it.
Most importantly, this organic down pillow is DOWNMARK certified. DOWNMARK is a Canadian certification that not only ensures the product is down (and just down), but that it’s been ethically harvested. That means that a DOWNMARK certified pillow doesn’t have down that’s been harvested on live or young animals.
If you’re searching for an organic down pillow, SOL Organics is a good brand to support. They invest in ethical labor practices, and practice carbon neutral shipping.
While this organic pillow is a bit on the pricier side ($129 for a queen size), it is well-loved with many 5-star reviews, and you can trust the materials.
Best Organic Down Alternative Pillow
Organic Down Alternative
Boll & Branch
Down Alternative Pillow
If you love the feel of down pillows but want to turn to another material, an organic down alternative pillow could be the right option for you.
The Boll & Branch Down Alternative Pillow is made with PrimaLoft™ fill—an allergy-friendly synthetic fiber that’s meant to be light and fluffy just like down. The pillow is 100% PrimaLoft™ fill, wrapped in an organic cotton liner (though we can’t determine if their cotton is certified organic). While the pillow is synthetic, it is considered a non-toxic pillow by virtue of their OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 certification.
We like that Boll & Branch is committed to implementing ethical labor practices and to reducing their emissions. This organic pillow is also well loved with over 650 reviews for a total score of 4.9 out of 5 stars. Users love that it’s fluffy and soft but still supportive.
Organic Pillow FAQs
The healthiest material for pillows depends on a lot of factors, but typically speaking an organic certified wool or cotton filling material is the safest material for human health. Looking for organic pillows is key, as it certifies that no harmful chemicals are used in the farming and manufacturing process. There are very safe eco-friendly pillows that are made from latex, too, you’ll just want to be sure to check for certifications that ensure the material meets certain human health standards.
There are a lot of eco-friendly alternatives to the conventional pillow. Latex, wool, cotton, buckwheat, and kapok are all viable options, so you should feel good about buying any of these eco-friendly pillow types. In the end, the most environmentally friendly pillow depends on a lot of factors, like shipping, packaging, or location—not just material. All in, 100% wool pillows are likely the most environmentally friendly pillow material (depending on how the sheep are farmed and how the wool is harvested).
Conventional pillows are often considered toxic due to the materials they’re made from and the chemicals they’re treated with. Pillows treated in formaldehyde, flame retardants, perfumes or deodorizers are considered toxic. Many foam pillows also off-gas and emit VOCs, which are toxic to human health. For that reason, memory foam pillows are considered toxic (unless certain certifications are in place). Finally, while down and feather pillows are typically safer than foam, a 2019 study found that some down pillow manufacturers use chemical glue within the feather filling to add weight, which also contributes to the toxicity level.
Our Research Process
We started our search for the best organic, non-toxic, and eco-friendly pillows by looking into the certifications you want to be aware of when buying a product in the bedding industry.
A lot of products claim to be “organic,” but in order to be considered a truly organic product, it has to be made with at least 95% organic materials. If you don’t pay attention to certifications, it’s easy to be fooled by green-washing in this industry.
Here are the non-toxic and organic pillow certifications we researched:
- Global Organic Textiles Standard (GOTS): Used for cotton, and is the only real organic cotton certification in the bedding industry.
- Global Organic Latex Standard (GOLS): User for latex, and is the only real organic latex certification in the bedding industry.
- CertiPUR-US: Used for foam, certifying that the product has low VOCs and is free of ozone depleters, flame retardants, mercury, lead, formaldehyde, and phthalates.
- Eco-INSTITUT: Used for many materials used in mattresses and pillows, and certifies that the product has met the strictest requirements for low emissions and pollutants.
- GREENGUARD: Used for many materials, and certifies that the product has low VOC emissions.
- OEKO-TEX: Used for textiles, and certifies the product has been tested for harmful substances and is harmless to human health.
- Made Safe: Used to certify lots of consumer products, and certifies that the product is harmless to human and environmental health.
Once we understood the certifications to especially look for, we were able to start our search for organic pillow brands. We looked for all different types of materials commonly used in organic pillows—like latex, cotton, wool, and foam. We also were sure to select options for a variety of sleepers—like back sleepers, side sleepers, or pregnant women.
The brands we ended up considering for best organic pillows were:
- Happsy
- Avocado
- Brooklyn Bedding
- Nest Bedding
- LifeKind
- PlushBeds
- Tuft & Needle
- Bear
- Saatva
- Birch
- Coyuchi
- Brentwood Home
- Naturepedic
- Boll & Branch
- Pacific Coast
- Sweet Zzz
- LL Bean
- My Little North Star
- Under the Canopy
- Sol Organics
- Live and Sleep
- Magnolia Organics
- OrganicTextiles
- The Woolland
- Natural Bed Company
- PureTree
There are a lot of great organic pillow brands on the market, but we focused our search on those that meet the organic and non-toxic standards we feel we can trust, and offer well-reviewed product users actually love. Brands received bonus points if they were doing especially good work raising environmental or social standards for their company.
While you’re shopping for organic and eco-friendly bedroom goods, check out our favorite organic mattresses, organic sheets, and organic bedding.
Sources
- https://www.leafscore.com/eco-friendly-bed-products/pillows-what-to-watch-out-for/
- https://www.avocadogreenmattress.com/pages/our-story
- https://www.coyuchi.com/about-us.html
- https://www.plushbeds.com/pages/our-mission
- https://happsy.com/certifications-advocacy
- https://www.naturepedic.com/organic-solid-latex-pillow
- https://birchliving.com/products/organic-pillow
- https://coophomegoods.com/pages/about
- https://lifekind.com/pages/made-in-usa
- https://www.brentwoodhome.com/pages/materials-we-use
- https://solorganix.com/pages/about-us
- https://www.bollandbranch.com/pages/about-us
