Avocado’s Certified Organic Cotton, Natural Kapok and Shredded Latex Pillows are OEKO-TEX Certified, Greenguard Gold Certified, and stuffed to the hilt. These super soft pillows are lightweight, cool but cozy and 100 percent sustainable and toxin-free. They are available in Standard, Queen, and King sizes ranging from $79-99.
Avocado Green Pillow Review
Highlights: Pillow is super soft and lightweight. 100 percent sustainable and toxin-free. Great option for back and side sleepers.
Avocado Green Pillow Review at a glance:
| Country of Origin: | USA |
| Materials: | Certified organic cotton, kapok, natural shredded latex |
| Certifications: | Greenguard Gold Eco-institut Vegan-certified 1% for the Planet |
Overview
Kapok makes for an excellent natural down alternative and Avocado don’t disappoint with this vegan-certified pillow stuffed with a mix of natural shredded latex (70 percent) and natural eco-friendly kapok fibers (30 percent), all encased in an OEKO-TEX certified organic cotton case. Happily, the zippered case is easy to open so you can adjust the fill to get the perfect loft, however you sleep. And, if you happen to lose any fill, Avocado offer refill packs for $15 and $20 for a half pound or a pound.
Thanks to the latex and kapok combination, these pillows are a little less ‘scrunchy’ and soft than 100 percent kapok pillows. As such, stomach sleepers will likely want to remove a lot of the fill. These combination pillows offer a little extra support, however, compared to pure kapok pillows, making them a great option for back and side sleepers.
The shredded latex used to fill these pillows is upcycled from the natural latex Avocado use to make their mattresses, which helps keep waste to a minimum at their factory. The organic cotton case has a high thread count for extra comfort, and the pillow case can be spot cleaned with a damp cloth and allowed to air dry in a sunny, breezy spot. For extra loft, put the pillow in a dryer on cool with a couple of new tennis balls. You can also handwash the pillow with cool water. Don’t use bleach, though.
Every Avocado Green Pillow is Greenguard Gold Certified, meaning it meets rigorous emissions standards for chemical exposure and pollutants, such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), formaldehyde and phthalates. These pillows are also certified, and manufacturing processes verified, by Vegan Action (The Vegan Awareness Foundation) in Richmond, Virginia. It does not use wool and does not contain animal products or byproducts and that have been tested on animals.
The cotton case is GOTS certified and the latex is eco-Institut certified to be free of dangerous emissions and synthetic materials.
The pillows are available in the following sizes and weights:
Standard: 19″ x 24″ — 3.4 lbs. (fits standard pillow cases)
Queen: 19″ x 28″ — 3.9 lbs. (fits Queen pillow cases)
King: 19″ x 35″ — 5.2 lbs. (fits King pillow cases)
Avocado are also committed to using carbon neutral shipping and packaging. They offset 100 percent of the emissions associated with shipping their products by supporting carbon offset projects via Carbonfund.org that help remove an equal amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. Avocado also support a charity called American Forests that works to protect and restore threatened wildland forest ecosystems, promote and expand urban forests, and educate people about the environment. Avocado ship their Green Pillows compressed via FedEx in a small, unbranded, brown box so as to minimize the use of dyes and energy. As such, it’s best to air out your pillow for a day or so to allow any residual natural latex odor to dissipate and so it can regain its form after being vacuum packed.
Avocado offer a 100-night trial on their Green Pillow, after which you can return it for a full refund if you’re not happy. They also offer a 1-year warranty.
Given the plethora of happy customers posting online reviews about Avocado’s Green Pillow, you probably won’t need to make use of that generous refund policy. Whether you already sleep well and just need a new pillow, or are experiencing serious back and neck pain that isn’t helped by your current pillow, this combination pillow is a great option for cradling your neck and offering soft, but firm, support.
Avocado vs. Savvy Rest vs. Rawganique
Kapok is becoming a popular soft filling for pillows, which means that some companies are adding kapok pillows to their otherwise problematic product ranges. Some contain their kapok pillows in conventionally grown cotton or synthetic fabrics, and few are as committed to environmental sustainability as Avocado, who, as far as we can tell, offer the only truly eco-friendly combination kapok and natural latex pillow.
The only real competition for Avocado’s Green Pillows are Savvy Rest’s Kapok Pillows (View Price on Savvy Rest) and Rawganique’s Wild-Harvested Kapok pillows. If you’re particularly concerned about third-party certifications, go for Savvy Rest or Avocado. If these don’t matter much and you’re happy to trust a long-established smaller company with a demonstrated commitment to non-toxic, cruelty-free, sustainable and safe products at a slightly lower price, Rawganique may be right for you.
Savvy Rest are a bigger company than its two rivals in this category. They are also a certified B Corp, carry GOTS and Greenguard certification, are employee-owned and give back through charitable enterprise in the community. Savvy Rest’s pillows are more expensive, however, and do not offer as many options for loft across the three sizes as Rawganique, nor do they offer refill packs like Avocado.
Avocado’s Green Pillows are a little smaller than those of Rawganique and Savvy Rest, but they overstuff their pillows, meaning you’ll likely have a lot of extra filling to play with. They also offer handy refill packs, are a committed eco-friendly company who donate 1 percent of profits to environmental causes and are Greenguard Gold Certified. Their kapok and latex pillows are also vegan-certified, Eco-Institut certified, made in California, and are shipped in a carbon-neutral fashion.