You may think buying a beach towel is as simple as choosing one in your favorite color. Yet, if you’re spending the day beside the water, you’d be better off choosing a towel that is also absorbent, dries quickly, feels soft, and is eco-friendly.
The best sustainable beach towels can meet all your requirements, including being sand-free, free from chemicals, ethically made, and gentle against your skin. We give you the rundown of what to look for when selecting sustainable beach blankets and towels.
Whether you’re spending the day at the beach, lake, or pool, you can have peace of mind that you’re caring for yourself and the planet.
What to Look for When Buying Eco-friendly Beach Towels
Choosing a sustainable and ethical beach towel is effortless when you know what to look for. We recommend selecting a towel made from organic cotton, natural fibers, or recycled fabrics.
You also want to ensure that it contains natural dyes rather than synthetic ones. Select sustainable towel brands with certifications such as OEKO-TEX, GOTS, GRS, and Made Safe, as these brands’ products are rigorously tested and meet high production standards.
Be sure to scope out the company’s ethics and values to gauge whether they abide by fair trade manufacturing standards. Making linen products is labor-intensive and time-consuming, so you want to ensure that workers at each process stage are treated fairly.
Finally, support brands that apply sustainable and eco-friendly practices throughout their entire company, such as recycling, using environmentally friendly packaging and creating minimal waste.
Related Reading: Sustainable Swimsuits / Sustainable Beach Bags / Sustainable Sun Hats / Sustainable Sunglasses / Eco-Friendly Beach Umbrellas
Best Sustainable Beach Towel Brands
Whether you want a sand-free beach towel made from sustainable materials, a light travel towel, or a thick and cozy towel for beach days, we’ve created a list of the top brands making eco towels. You can readily find one to suit your requirements and head to the beach feeling good about your choice. What’s more? These quality towels will typically last you longer too!
Oversized Beach Towels
Weezie creates luxury terry beach towels made from long-staple organic cotton.
They work with a third-generation family-owned factory in Portugal to produce their Okeo-Tex-certified soft, fluffy, and absorbent organic cotton terry towel products.
For kids, they also make super cozy cover-ups, made from the same luxurious, eco-friendly materials.
Upcycled Cotton Turkish Towels
Hilana Upcycled Cotton is a women-owned B-Corp company.
They work with a collective of hand-weavers in Turkey to create sustainable towels made with 50% recycled cotton (recycled from clothing manufacturing waste) and 50% virgin cotton.
Their production processes result in chemical-free products, and they are zero-waste, while also using less energy, and less water than conventional cotton towels. Importantly, every worker is also paid a fair living wage.
Recycled Quick Dry Towel
Nomadix creates recycled plastic beach towels that will take you from your yoga class to the beach to your favorite camping spot.
It is lightweight, absorbent, odor-resistant, sand-resistant, quick-drying, and the only towel you need for your vacation activities.
One towel is made with thirty plastic water bottles and certified post-consumer recycled materials.
It also folds small making it the perfect travel beach towel.
Handloom Yoga Towel
This yoga towel from Oko Living is the perfect combination of softness, absorbancy, and grip – in case you feel like practicing yoga on the sand.
You can readily hold your poses at the beach or park and enjoy the feel of the soft organic cotton under your hands and feet.
The natural fiber towel is ethically handwoven in India, free from PVC, phthalates, and chemicals, and is GOTS certified.
Absorbent Cotton Beach Towels
Absorbent, functional, versatile, and sustainable are features of Slowtide’s beach towels.
They are made from 100% sustainably-sourced cotton that exceeds Oeko-Tex standards.
Slowtide prioritizes sustainability across its entire brand, from sourcing materials to manufacturing and packaging.
Mediterranean Organic Towels
These sustainable Turkish towels from Coyuchi are lightweight with a high/low weave making them highly absorbent.
They are made with 100% organic cotton and are GOTS and Made Safe certified, meaning they are free from harmful toxins.
Each towel is made according to the strictest ethical and environmental standards.
Kenyan Beach Towel
The Kenyan cotton beach towel from Swahili Coast Design features a quick-drying terry cloth lining that makes it extra absorbent and lightweight.
There’s even a hidden in-built pocket to hide your keys or phone while at the beach – genius!
Swahili Coast Design is a partnership initiative giving various artisans in East Africa the opportunity to create and sell handwoven goods through a fair-trade business.
Sand-Free Beach Towels
These premium sustainable sand-resistant beach towels are highly absorbent and get softer with every wash.
They are made with Turkish cotton and generously sized for lying on the beach or wrapping around your waist.
Sand Cloud is passionate about preserving marine life and commits to donating 10% of its profits to various marine conservation charities.
Organic Cotton Sunset Beach Towels
Wrap yourself in a generously sized, sustainable towel made from natural materials, from Delilah Home.
These organic beach towels are made with long-staple 100% Turkish cotton and are GOTS certified.
The fine yarn and long, two-ply double loops result in a fluffy and absorbent towel that’s 50% thicker than regular towels.
Delilah Homes partners with Fair Trade factories to make their beach and pool towels, and give 10% of profits back to charity.
Organic Turkish Towels
Stray and Wander value the energy and skill it takes for artisans to hand weave each towel using traditional processes.
They operate according to fair trade guidelines and supply ethically crafted towels made with 100% hand-loomed organic Turkish cotton.
Stray and Wander also believe that slight imperfections in the towels add to the uniqueness of each product.
Hand Woven Cotton Towels
An eco-friendly towel from Amante is created through ethical practices and supports Turkish artisans through fair trade ethics and paying a living wage.
Each towel is made with traditional techniques and contains 100% Turkish cotton giving you a soft and comfortable towel that will fit well in your beach bag.
A third party independently tests that the products complies with Oeko-Tex certification.
Wearable Towels
Perfect for the outdoor explorer and active water adventurer, Finisterre creates absorbent, functional, and sustainable towel cover-ups that you can use as a changing robe when out and about.
Made from soft organic cotton fibers and available in various thicknesses and a range of sizes, you can find the ideal outdoor robe to suit your requirements.
They’re transparent about where their robes are made, are a partner of Fair Working Conditions, a certified B Corp, and a plastic-free company.
Fast-Drying Beach Towels
Minna supplies ethically made towels from Guatemalan artisans.
The handwoven, colorful cotton towels get softer with every wash and are durable with proper care.
Minna commits to sustainable practices and supporting artisans in Central and South America to help preserve traditional craft methods and create job opportunities.
Cotton Turkish Towels
Anatolico provides soft cotton towels in a wide range of colors and designs.
The lightweight and fast-drying towels offer a luxurious feel and pack small when traveling. They are sand-resistant and versatile, doubling as a throw, blanket, or shawl.
These vegan and naturally hypoallergenic towels are made with 100% long-staple cotton.
Sustainable Sand-free Towels
Depending on the size of the towel, each design from SomerSide contains between 8 and 30 recycled plastic bottles.
SomerSide makes its sustainable, sand-free beach towels from 85% recycled plastic bottles and the remaining 15% made up of nylon to give the material extra absorbency and softness.
These towels also feature a hidden zip pocket to stash your valuables easily – ideal for beach trips!
Eco-Responsible Beach Towels
These towels are woven in France on a jacquard loom using 100% organic cotton.
The generous sizing means you can use these beach towels as a picnic blanket, yoga mat, or decorative throw.
The sustainable towel is lightweight, absorbent, and has a reversible design to give you more style options.
Cottesea towels are also Oeko-Tex certified.
Towels from TwoThirds
TwoThirds is a certified B Corp dedicated to making quality products that will stand up to the test of time. They’re commited to reducing waste, using only eco-friendly materials, and utilising ethical production methods.
Two-Thirds’ beach towels are made with SEAQUAL, an eco-friendly fabric made from recycled plastic bottles. This fabric gives the product strength, stretch, and versatility – so you can enjoy a soft, durable beach towel.
Organic Cotton Beach Towels
Fair trade, oversized, organic cotton, extra tight weave, and GOTS certified are features you can enjoy with a quick-dry towel from West Path.
This company focuses on providing handmade and responsibly sourced products.
Eco-Friendly Sand-Free Towels
Nayavita has an extensive range of vibrant, patterned, sustainable, and eco-friendly beach towels.
They use recycled bottles to create absorbent, fast-drying, and sand-resistant towels that are perfect for the outdoors.
Nayavita is also dedicated to using recycled and biodegradable packaging when delivering products.
Quick-Dry Beach Towels
Evolve has developed recycled beach towels to respond to the world’s plastic crisis.
Each of these sand-proof beach towels contains the equivalent of 20 plastic bottles and uses less power and water during production.
Evolve resulting towels are anti-microbial, quick-drying, sand-resistant, lightweight, and compact, making them ideal for a day at the beach or lake.
Evolve contributes 10% of its profits to various environmental charities with every product sold.
You can readily support businesses that produce ethically made and sustainable products such as organic linen beach towels. Our extensive list of eco-friendly and responsible companies provides numerous options to select a beach towel that matches your outdoor requirements and your values.