Avoiding plastic can be treacherous business. Sure, this item avoids plastic, but will it be any GOOD? Will it work/be comfortable/ not make me look like a potato? Will I jump in and spend the extra $$$ for the non-plastic thingy only to be disappointed and left with another object I don’t want? Or worse yet, will the item be hiding plastic in it somewhere after all?

I’m delighted to report that I’ve happened upon something I had almost despaired of ever finding: the ZERO PLASTIC BRA. You read that right. And I know what you’re thinking: this is going to look like Amish underwear isn’t it? It’s gonna be weird or uncomfortable or involve things that have no business being on a bra like… like buttons or grommets or something. It’s gonna cost an arm and a leg and then turn out to have plastic hiding furtively in the cup seams.

But no- the Very Good Bra Company is very, very serious about making their product zero plastic— right down to the elastic and the sewing thread— which is no small feat. At $59 the price is comparable to the average plastic bra you might find at the mall, but then there is shipping to be considered and these bras are coming from Australia.

I know- buying my bras from as far away as Australia doesn’t sound very climate friendly does it? But when you consider the fact that the average new piece of clothing has traveled to six countries in the course of its manufacture, you understand that there is a loooooong footprint for any new bought item of clothing, no matter how you slice it. Since I don’t buy new clothing at all anymore except for underwear (only used, consignment or vintage) I figure buying one bra from Australia is not going to kill any more polar bears than absolutely necessary. Plus, there’s the added benefit that when I am done with it years from now, it won’t contain plastic to poison the environment with in some landfill for generations to come.

In fact, The Very Good Bra has a blog post with pics of their bra in a home worm farm, to demonstrate their ready compostablility. You won’t find that at Victoria’s Secret.

That’s all well and good, but how does it perform, bra-wise? I wouldn’t be writing this post today if I hadn’t been very happily surprised by my purchase. The Very Good Bra lives up to its name: it arrives in (hallelujah) plastic-free packaging and not only is made of 100% degradable materials (Yes! Even the hook and eyes! Yes! Even the label!) but best of all I found it to be stunningly comfortable. To the point that now I’m spoiled: I don’t want to wear any of my old plastic bras anymore because they are not as nice to wear as my new Very Good Bra.

To sum up: I don’t have to wear plastic on my ta-tas anymore, I don’t have to worry about microplastics being released into the water supply when I wash them, and I know someday when its useful bra-life is done, unlike all other bras being sold today, it will degrade right back into the earth.

All that makes me feel beautiful. And not at all like a potato.

PS- For more products I like, allow me to proudly introduce my new page of Zero Waste recommendations!:

Year of No Garbage Resources