In the decade since I wrote Eco-Sex: Go Green Between the Sheets and Make Your Love Life Sustainable (Random House/Ten Speed Press), much has changed in the landscape of eco-friendly sexuality products, and much of that change is very, very good. There is a plethora of organic, toxin-free, and body-friendly lube to choose from, condoms have come a long way, product packaging has gotten an upgrade, and consumers know a lot more about how to avoid dangerous chemicals when in pursuit of pleasure. Customers are willing to do a bit of due diligence to make their sexual enhancement purchases feel good in more ways than one.

But when it comes to finding authentically sustainable sex toys or pleasure products, the struggle is still real. The ideal sustainable sex toys that tick every health and environmental box don’t yet seem to exist. Some conscious companies aim to reduce their carbon footprint with manufacturing processes, others are sticklers about packaging, and others focus on making sex toys that will last for a long time. And still others care mostly about making a profit, so they’ll only produce a safer/healthier pleasure product when they’re forced to by regulation.

This is important. The reason we don’t have a singular standard for sex toys in the US in terms of health or the environment is because our government doesn’t truly regulate sex toys — they’re considered novelty products. The only way to get FDA-clearance for a vibrator or other sex toy is to label it a medical device, and then seek FDA-approval, a long, arduous, complicated process. Most sex toy manufacturers, especially the smaller companies new to the pleasure product industry, don’t have the time or resources to bring their innovations to the public this way…. Read More Here