Men, are you "green under there"?

Men have three basic styles of underwear to choose from: classic briefs, boxers and a third hybrid style--the boxer brief. The details of the underwear may differ between the various companies - some have higher waists than others, some boxers have buttons, the elastic may be covered or uncovered, boxers may come in flannel - but almost all the mens underwear available in organic cotton fit neatly into one of these three styles.

Color choices are mainly restricted to natural or unbleached, undyed organic cotton although several companies do offer either colorgrown fabrics or colors from low-impact dyes.

bgreen is a brand name of organic cotton clothing made by NatureUSA, a division of the Cotton Knit Trading, Inc., a family owned and operated business in Southern California. They exclusively use certified organic cotton and low-impact dyes to make their fabric. Clothes are developed, designed, and manufactured in Southern California and carry a "Made in USA" tag.

• The three basic styles: active brief, boxers, and boxerbrief


• All styles have branded elastic waistbands and no hanging labels.
• Some stores offer a covered elastic version.


• All styles are available in white, black, and natural.


• Boxers have a short fly, claimed to stay shut when not in use (!)


• Boxerbrief is 92% organic cotton/8% spandex.

Prices for bgreen organic cotton briefs, boxers, and boxer briefs:

• Briefs range from $15.95 to $18 ($25 CAN).
  Lotus Organics currently has a sale for $8.00.
  
• Boxers range in price from $16 to $19 ($25 CAN).
  Lotus Organics currently a sale for $8.50.
  
• Boxer brief ranges from $16 to $18 ($25 CAN).
  Lotus Organics currently has a sale for $8.50.
  

Where to purchase bgreen underwear online:
bgreen
a happy planet
EcoChoices-EcoBodyWear
LotusOrganics.com
Organic Lifestyle
Organic Selections
Tomorrows World

Clean Undies is a brand name of the Organic Cotton Company, Inc. located in Toronto, Canada. They are one of the few companies in North America processing certified organic pima cotton from raw cotton to finished, comfortable, high quality certified organic products. Pima cotton is a generic name for extra-long staple (ELS) cotton

• Clean Undies are offered in 3 styles: classic brief, boxer, and boxerbrief.
• All styles come in one color - natural.
• Waistbands are covered with pima cotton.
• Boxers are form fitting and have two buttons.

• Briefs range in price from $18.95 to $22.
  LotusOrganics.com has Clean Undies men's briefs on sale for $11.
• Boxers range in price from $19.95 to $26.
  LotusOrganics.com has Clean Undies men's boxers on sale for $13.
• Boxer briefs range in price from $19.95 to $22.50.

LotusOrganics.com
Organic Lifestyle
The Oko Box
Rawganique.com

Cottonfield is a small woman-owned business in Boston, Massachusetts. Their certified organic cotton is grown by small farms in Texas, California, and North Carolina. The mills they use are located in North and South Carolina and the dye house is in New Hampshire. The cutting and sewing occur in the Boston area.

• Cottonfield makes three styles: classic briefs, boxers, and boxer briefs.
  
• Self-covered, latex-free elastic.
  
• One color - natural.

• The boxer briefs and briefs range from $18.95 to $22.00.
  
• The boxers range in price from $20 to $26
  
• Kasper Organics has all three styles on sale for $16.16.
  

Cottonfield mens organic cotton underwear can be purchased at:
COTTONFIELDusa
EnvironGentle
GoodHumans
Kasper Organics

Ecoland - A California based company that makes clothing from organically grown cotton - certified by SKAL. They state the garments are sustainable processed. and sewn in a sweatshop-free environment.

• Ecoland has two styles for men: briefs and boxer briefs.
  
• Both are 95% organic cotton/5% spandex.
  
• Available in white.

Ecoland men's organic cotton briefs and boxer briefs are available through their website at Ecoland.
Briefs are $14.95 and Boxer briefs are $16.95.

Osaj - Based in Los Angeles, Osaj produces clothing in the USA from 100% unbleached organic cotton.

• Osaj offers 2 styles in 100% unbleached organic cotton: briefs and boxer briefs.


• Elastic and cotton woven waistband.
  
• Comes in white (unbleached).

• Briefs are priced at $16
  Grass Roots Natural Goods offers a 3 pack for $44.
  
  
• Boxers range from $23 to $24
  Lotus Organics has Osaj boxers on sale for $10.
  

Osaj organic cotton boxers and briefs can be purchased at these online stores:
Grass Roots Natural Goods
LotusOrganics.com
Organic Selections
rawganique

Rawganique, founded in 2000 on Denman Island off of British Columbia, is a wonderfully unique business dedicated to promoting sustainable products and a sustainable way of life. The founders practice what they preach by living off the grid and growing much of their own food organically. Primarily a manufacturer and retailer of hemp clothing, they also offer organic cotton products. The online store includes other brands in addition to rawganique's own. They are committed to selling only sweatshop-free and environmentally conscious clothing and other products.

The organic cotton underwear rawganique produces is made from IMO (Switzerland) certified organic cotton. They use fabric-reactive dyes that have no heavy metals or "harsh" chemicals. The underwear is made in Europe under fair trade conditions.

Rawganique offers:

• Organic cotton flannel boxers in colorgrown pecan (no dyes or bleach used)
  
• Organic cotton sateen boxers - striped in colorgrown pecan/natural (no dyes or bleach used), indigo (slate blue), moss, charcoal, and saffron (brick).
  
• Sports briefs in five colors: Bordeaux, charcoal, black, natural, wild sage
  
• Low rise pouch in eight colors: natural, grey, faded jeans, spice, burgundy, black, charcoal, and sage.
  
  

• Flannel or sateen boxers are $24
  
• Sport briefs - Bordeaux, charcoal, black, natural, wild sage $25
  
• Wild card package of five pairs of sport briefs (they pick the colors) $115
• Low rise pouch for $25.
  

Red Dog Sportswear is a California based company. Red Dog products are made in Turkey with SKAL certified organic cotton (exclusive of trim) and low-impact dyes.

• Red Dog makes three styles of organic cotton underwear for men: sport briefs, boxer briefs, and trunks.
  
• All styles come in white with a branded elastic waistband - a red dog logo.
  

Red Dog eco sport briefs, boxer briefs and trunks can be purchased online at Amazon.com for $20 per pair any style or a package of 3 for $50.

American Apparel is a funky Los Angeles based company. All their clothing is cut & sewn under one roof in LA. They offer some of their clothes including underwear in a 100% USDA certified organic cotton fabric. Their organic cotton is imported into the US.

• American Apparel offers briefs for men in their "Sustainable Edition" line.
  


• The men's sustainable edition brief comes in 6 colors all with white contrasting piping: natural, black, dijon, pomegranate, ultraviolet, galaxy (deep blue-green), and cinder (gray).
  

American Apparel sells its clothing online through americanapparel.net. Click on Organics to see the "Sustainable Edition" of their underwear. The sustainable edition briefs are priced at $12.

Decent Exposures is a woman-owned, socially responsible business, based in Seattle - famous (in some circles) for their UnBra, which they custom sew. They offer underwear in any of their fabrics including organic cotton in four colors.

• Decent Exposures offers 2 styles: briefs and boxer briefs.
  
• Their 100% organic fabric choice comes in cream, blue, navy, and black.

Decent Exposures organic cotton underwear can be purchased through their website at decentexposures.com. Since Decent Exposures is a custom sewing house, you need to specify that you would like one of the three colors of organic cotton fabric. They range in price from $17 to $25 dependent on size!

Patagonia is an internationally known outdoor sports clothing manufacturer with corporate headquarters in Ventura, California. Since 1996,Patagonia has made all their cotton products out of certified organic cotton.
Surprisingly, they offer only one style of underwear in organic cotton: men's boxers. The boxers are made in Thailand.

• Encased elastic waistband with Patagonia label and a functional fly.
  
• Comes in four prints: aquatic in gravel (brown) or winter sky (blue) and salt (stripes) in gravel or winter sky.

Patagonia organic cotton boxers can be purchased online at patagonia.com for $30.

Organic cotton briefs range in price from $11 to $25 depending on the brand and the retailer's pricing. Briefs made from conventional cotton can be purchased for $13 to $20 for a 3-pack (so one pair would cost from $4 to $5). From a purely monetary point of view it would seem that the conventional briefs would be a better deal - but are they really? What are you paying for when you buy that lower-priced conventional cotton underwear? The true cost of growing that cotton is not reflected in the price of the finished brief.

If you purchase conventional cotton products grown in the USA, you are undoubtedly contributing to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico (due to fertilizer overload) and purchasing a product made of conventional cotton grown elsewhere, is likewise contributing to the poisoning of the environment - only in another area of the globe. Cotton farmers and field workers are poisoned by pesticide applications. Those pesticides are ending up in the environment locally - but as we now know - globally as well.

Workers on farms and in clothing factories are often overworked and underpaid. How can you be sure that the conventional cotton clothing you're purchasing was not made in a sweatshop? Does the availability of cheap underwear warrant sweatshop conditions?

You need to answer these questions yourself and make your own decisions - but by paying a little more for organically grown, non-sweatshop manufactured cotton underwear you may be able to help our planet and our global community.

brand

cotton grown

milled/woven

cut/sewn

certifications

bgreen

?

?

southern CA

 

Clean Undies

USA

Canada

Canada

 

CottonField

USA
(TX CA NC)

USA
(NC SC NH)

USA (MA)

 

Ecoland

?

?

China?

SKAL

Osaj

?

?

USA

 

Rawganique

?

?

Europe

IMO

Red Dog Sportswear

?

?

Turkey

SKAL

American Apparal

imported

?

USA (CA)

USDA

Decent Exposures

?

?

Seattle

 

Patagonia

?

?

Thailand