earth mat Agoy was forefront first brought this mat into UK, USA, and Japan. When we started out, our idea was to create a yoga mat we would be proud of, the ultimate mat to practice on - it had to look great, be sturdy, light weight and have the best natural grip. Most of all we wanted it to have the least possible impact on the environment. After years of working away with this in mind, here it is...the earth mat. The earth mat, made from a revolutionary synthetic form of rubber, is not only beautiful, it’s also free of PVC, Phthalates, toluene, heavy metals, latex and natural rubber. Plus it’s degradable. It won’t last forever but that’s the idea – we don’t want it to hang around for the next hundred years! It will certainly stand up to a regular yoga practice and last a considerable length of time. Apart from looking and feeling great, agoy earth mat naturally provides excellent traction and has amazing grip, which is enhanced by its exclusive surface pattern. The mat isn’t spongy like so many yoga mats, it doesn’t bottom out, lessening impact with hard floors. In fact the performance of agoy’s earth mat is in this respect equivalent to regular PVC mats of double the thickness. This makes it light weight in comparison to many yoga mats. The earth mat is also hygienic - it doesn’t absorb sweat and the natural characteristics of the material used prevent bacteria and fungal growth. Due to its natural composition the Earth mats won't last as long with rigourous practices such as Ashtanga. If your practice is quite rigourous then the agoy Studio Mat could be better suited. All mats comply the following safety standards. Oeko-Tex Satndard 100 – Swiss Safety Standard for Textile, tested by TESTEX RoHS – European heavy metal safety standard, tested by SGS EN71 part 3 – European Hazardous safety standard, tested by SGS AZO Free – European Hazardous safety standard, tested by SGS Phthalate Free – European Hazardous safety standard, tested by SGS ASTM E1645-94 – US Standard Practice for the Preparation of Dried Paint Samples by Hotplate or Microwave Digestion for        Subsequent Lead Analysis, tested by ASTM ASTM F963 - US Standard Consumer Safety Specification for Toy Safety, tested by ASTM ISO 14184-1 – US Hazardous Safety Standard of Formaldehyde free, tested by ISO