Home & Garden Home The 11 Best Organic Pillows of 2023 Learn why Avocado's Green Pillow is our top pick. By Starre Vartan Starre Vartan Writer Columbia University Syracuse University Starre Vartan is an environmental and science journalist. She holds an MFA degree from Columbia University and Geology and English degrees from Syracuse University. Learn about our editorial process Updated August 2, 2022 Share Twitter Pinterest Email Home Green Living Pest Control Natural Cleaning DIY Family Thrift & Minimalism Sustainable Eating We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation. Learn more. Treehugger Tested & Approved Avocado's Green Pillow is our Best Overall because it has a robust list of sustainability certifications and can be adjusted to suit your preferred level of firmness. A good night’s rest is invaluable. That’s why so many of us have started taking our bedding pretty seriously, investing in bedding made from natural materials, ensuring we have an eco-friendly mattress, and taking the time to pick out the perfect pillow for our needs. When it comes to pillows there are a plethora of options, for almost every possible sleeping position and body type or size. Before you dive into choosing an organic pillow, you should start with a little self-assessment—what kind of pillow helps you sleep best? If you’re a back sleeper, you might like a harder, denser latex pillow. If you need to make adjustments to the thickness of your pillow for stomach-sleeping or some types of side sleeping, you might want a pillow filled with down or buckwheat (though a shredded latex or mixed latex pillow might be an option). Maybe you’re pregnant or just want the support of a body pillow for comfortable side-sleeping? Once you’ve narrowed it down a bit, you can then find an organic version to fit your needs more easily and be less likely to become overwhelmed. Ahead, we've rounded up the best organic pillows, all backed by trustworthy certifications. The Rundown Best Overall: Avocado Green Pillow at Avocadogreenmattress.com Jump to Review Best Budget: Under the Canopy Down Alternative Pillow at Underthecanopy.com Jump to Review Best Down: Boll & Branch Down Pillow at Bollandbranch.com Jump to Review Best Splurge: The Company Store Legends Hotel Organic Cotton, Down Pillow at The Company Store Jump to Review Best Latex: Coyuchi Organic Shredded Latex Pillow at Wayfair Jump to Review Best Body Pillow: The Futon Shop Organic Body Pillow at Thefutonshop.com Jump to Review Best Wool: Shepherd's Dream Ashland Organic Wool Pillow at Shepherdsdream.com Jump to Review Best Buckwheat: Sachi Organics Buckwheat Pillow at Amazon Jump to Review Best for Toddlers: Mother Sheep Organics Toddler Pillow at Amazon Jump to Review Best Kapok Pillow: Magnolia Organics Kapok Pillow at Amazon Jump to Review Best Overall Avocado Green Pillow 4.5 Avocado Green Mattress View On Avocadogreenmattress.com Avocado's Green Pillow is Treehugger's top overall pick because it has a robust list of certifications and can be adjusted to suit your preferred level of firmness. Our tester found that it combines some of the best features of a down pillow (you can move the filling to just the right areas) and a memory foam pillow (it's supportive and stays put). This pillow has a mix of fills, with GOLS-certified organic latex shreds mixed with GOTS-certified organic kapok fill (kapok is a fluffy down-like material made from the seeds of the Ceiba tree, so it’s vegan). An internal liner is organic jersey cotton and the thick quilted cotton cover is GOTS-certified organic. The whole pillow is Greenguard certified and the pillows even come with extra fill so you can customize it. It's made in the United States. It comes with an extra bag of filling so you can increase the firmness by adding extra material. Our tester did note that the shredded latex is somewhat heavier that many types of natural filling, so if you love a light pillow this might not be the best pick for you. Price at time of publish: $109 Best Budget Under the Canopy Down Alternative Pillow Under The Canopy View On Underthecanopy.com At half the price of many of the pillows on this list, this vegan pillow isn’t cheap but you get quite a bang for your buck. It has a 100% Oeko-Tex organic cotton cover and a 100% recycled polyester fill that’s Global Recycled Standard (GRS) Certified. This fill material means it’s easily machine-washable with cold water and comes in two sizes. Price at time of publish: $38 for standard Best Down Boll & Branch Down Chamber Pillow 4.2 Nordstrom View On Bollandbranch.com If you prefer a down pillow, this one comes with an organic cotton cover and is OEKO-TEX certification, which ensures it's free from concerning chemicals. Boll & Branch is also a Fair Trade Certified bedding company. The pillow is available in two sizes (standard and king), and three levels of firmness (soft, medium, and firm). We tested the "Soft" firmness, and found it to be extremely comfortable for side and stomach sleeping, and loved that the pillow stays cool on hot summer nights. Although it's not vegan, the down is certified by the International Down Standard, which works to ensure animal welfare. Price at time of publish: $158 Best Splurge The Company Store Legends Hotel Organic Cotton, Down Pillow Courtesy of The Company Store View On The Company Store This pillow comes in four densities, from soft to medium to firm and extra-firm, two colors and three sizes. Inside the organic cotton 230-thread-count shell is hypoallergenic white European 600-fill down that’s certified by the Responsible Down Standard, which ensures better animal welfare standards. Made in the United States, this pillow must be dry-cleaned since it’s down, so you can’t just throw it in the washing machine. Price at time of publish: $189 Best Latex Coyuchi Organic Shredded Latex Pillow View On Wayfair View On Coyuchi.com View On Nordstrom This pillow is full of fluffy shreds of latex—not a solid latex pad, which means it is more easily adjustable for a range of sleep positions. You can even open the pillow cover and move the latex shreds around for a specific distribution level if you prefer. The latex used is GOLS-certified organic latex which is naturally resistant to mold, mildew, and dust mites. It’s all covered with a high thread-count organic cotton sateen cover. Price at time of publish: $128 The 8 Best Eco-Friendly Duvet Covers Best Body Pillow The Futon Shop Organic Body Pillow Courtesy of The Futon Shop View On Thefutonshop.com This simple, rectangular body pillow has a 100% GOTS certified organic cotton sateen cover, and is filled with 100% USDA certified organic cotton batting. It comes in two sizes, depending on how much support you want. It’s firm, meaning it’s meant to be supportive, not overly squishy, which tends to be good for side-sleepers (generally the group that most uses body pillows). Hand-stitched in San Francisco, the company also offers custom-sized pillows. Price at time of publish: $120 Best Wool Shepherd's Dream Ashland Organic Wool Pillow Courtesy of Shepherd's Dream View On Shepherdsdream.com Layers of organic wool batting fills this pillow that’s covered with an organic cotton cover, both GOTS-certified. Available in three sizes, these pillows are on the firmer side, so ideal for back and side sleepers. Because they are made of natural wool batting they do compress over the first months of use, but they are designed to do exactly that, and last for years. Price at time of publish: $91 for standard thin 18 oz pillow Best Buckwheat Sachi Organics Japanese Size Buckwheat Pillow Courtesy of Sachi Organics View On Amazon View On Sachiorganics.com This is not a traditionally sized pillow, but is a bit smaller and thinner in the Japanese style—but still suitable for nighttime sleeping. Buckwheat hulls make a lightweight but dense filling, and you can adjust the pillow by removing some of the buckwheat hulls for a different level of support. The cover is made from organic cotton canvas and the buckwheat hulls are also organic. Note that buckwheat hulls do rustle when you move so this isn’t as quiet as a traditional pillow, though some people find the sound soothing. Price at time of publish: $63 Best for Toddlers Mother Sheep Organics Toddler Pillow Courtesy of Amazon View On Amazon View On Mothersheeporganics.com For kids aged two and up, this pillow has a GOTS-certified organic cotton shell surrounding a 100% GOTS-certified organic wool filling. That wool isn’t batting, but instead a proprietary fill made from what the company calls “pearls” of wool it spins into that shape itself. This makes the pillow more fluffy. The whole pillow can’t be washed, but the cover can, and the company recommends seasonal air drying or using the dryer on a no-heat setting with tennis balls to fluff it up. It has a three-year warrantee but should last many more years. Price at time of publish: $64 The 7 Best Non-Toxic Crib Mattresses of 2023 Best Kapok Pillow Magnolia Organics Kapok Pillow Courtesy of Magnolia Organics View On Amazon View On Magnoliaorganics.com Kapok is an ideal pillow-filling material if you are looking for the fluffy softness of down but would prefer a vegan alternative. This pillow is filled with only this silky material that can be separated from the seeds of the ceiba tree which produces it naturally year after year, making it a sustainably harvested material (the tree isn’t cut down, just the seed pods with the kapok in them). That soft kapok filling is contained by an extra-dense GOTS-certified organic cotton cover. Price at time of publish: $110 Best Neck Travel Pillow Essentia Traveler Pillow Courtesy of Essentia View On Myessentia.com Essentia has its own factory in Canada, where it produces GOLS-certified latex foam. The foam is used for mattresses, as well as this travel neck pillow. It has a removable GOTS-certified organic cotton cover for easy washing and a couple of adjustments to keep it securely around your neck. Because it is made of high-quality materials, it’s durable unlike the throwaway models sold at the airport. Price at time of publish: $99 Final Verdict Our top pick for an organic pillow is the Avocado Green Pillow, for its vegan mix of organic materials. However, if you're looking for a less expensive option, check out Under the Canopy's Down Alternative Pillow. What to Look for in Organic Pillows Materials There are two main parts to a pillow, and they are often made from different materials. There’s the filling, which many people will have a preference on, and there’s also the pillow cover, which you might not have thought much about. But if you are concerned with what’s in your pillow, you should also keep an eye on what covers it. You can find covers that are also made from organic fabric, like certified organic cotton. Organic Certification All the pillows in this list have some kind of organic certification. USDA Organic labeling is managed by the United States Department of Agriculture and it covers food but also textiles, which is how it comes into play with pillows. USDA Organic has specific requirements for the types of chemicals that can be used on crops, like cotton, that are made into fabrics. The Global Organic Textile Standard and Global Organic Latex Standard also independently test and verify organic content for cotton and latex respectively. Wool can be certified organic, but down-specific certifications are made via the Responsible Down Standard, as well as several other possible labels (take a look at the full list here). Frequently Asked Questions What organic pillow filling is the most sustainable? Buckwheat hulls (or millet) fillings are the lowest impact both because they require minimal energy to process them into fill material for a pillow, and because they could be added directly to a home compost heap and they would easily biodegrade there. Next on the list would be organic cotton and wool as they would also biodegrade easily over time, but they require more energy to both produce the raw material and process it into a fabric or filling. What organic pillow fillings are vegan? Organic cotton, recycled polyester fill (aka polyfill), and 100% latex fills are all vegan options. Pillows that contain wool or down are not. Why Trust Treehugger? The Treehugger team has spent hundreds of hours digging deep into the bedding market in order to pick the most sustainable products. To make this list, we looked for pillows that have trustworthy organic certifications, as well as other features that make them eco-friendly. We’ve included vegan options in this list, but also some pillows that include down and wool, which are not. After identifying the best organic options, we test top products and share our first-hand experiences. Starre Vartan has been researching and reviewing environmentally sustainable products for 15 years and wrote a book on eco-friendly, healthy living. She is very dedicated to healthy sleep as the foundation of both mental and physical health and has tried many different mattresses, pillows, and toppers. She likes to alternate between a small down pillow in colder weather and a thin Japanese-style buckwheat-hull pillow, though she has kapok-filled pillows for her couch and living spaces. The 7 Best Bamboo Pillows of 2023