Natural rubber can have nasty environmental consequences, too—hevea is a cash crop in many tropical countries, and to plant more of it, rainforests have been slashed and burned, waterways drained and diverted, and toxic defoliants used to remove native ground cover. In Southeast Asia, an area of native forest equivalent to 42 “Manhattans” was converted to hevea cultivation between 2005 and 2015.

When we decided to switch to natural rubber, we wanted to make sure we weren’t contributing to deforestation, so we partnered with the Forest Stewardship Council® to ensure that our hevea was sourced only from plantations that preserve biodiversity and ecological integrity. All of our natural rubber is FSC certified, ensuring that it doesn’t come from newly clear-cut rainforest, like some of the world’s supply.