Like many great ideas, Yogo started on a napkin. The product is perhaps better for the environment than the piece of paper on which it was first jotted down. The sustainable, eco-friendly travel yoga mat company, based in Reno, is the brainchild of Jessica Thompson, a Northern California transplant who relocated to the Biggest Little City after college.
“Throughout my career, I’ve spent well over 20,000 hours on green products, climate project financing, and energy analytics,” Thompson said.
Yogo’s flagship product is a travel yoga mat designed to fold up to the size of a newspaper. It is easily secured with straps and made of materials that won’t harm the environment or the yogi using it.
“Whereas most yoga mats are made with petrochemicals, particularly PVC plastic, which contains neurotoxins, our mats are made with gentle, plant-based materials,” Thompson explained. The mats are made with natural tree rubber, and the attached straps are made of 100% recycled bottles. Of course, the packaging is also recycled and low waste.
Because Thompson is well-versed in the devastating effects of deforestation, she set up a program to help replenish the trees used to make her mats and other products.
“In addition to ensuring that our core operations are as gentle on the Earth as possible, we plant one tree per mat as part of our give-back Food Trees program, which alleviates poverty through long-term agroforestry support to families in Africa,” she said.
Thompson’s background in strategic advisory, market, economic and financial analysis, and multilateral climate program development suits her Yogo product line well. With 20 years of experience in these fields, Thompson, who is also an international climate consultant, has practiced in financing low-carbon infrastructure, conducting due diligence on energy and clean tech projects, and mobilizing private investment through public partnerships.
It’s all part of her mission to save the world one earth-conscious yogi at a time. “So many years of analytics around the environment and pollution allowed me to understand the interconnected supply chain impact of consumer goods and design a better business model,” Thompson explained. “Part of my personal mission in starting Yogo has also been to spread better information about sustainability solutions and to alleviate greenwashing, a huge barrier to solving the climate crisis.”
Regardless of your opinions on the materials used, the mat’s function has garnered its own praise, eliciting accolades as the “Best Travel Yoga Mat” from companies such as Conde Nast, The Wall Street Journal, Business Insider and CNET.
The two products available online (and hopefully soon at Reno’s Scheel’s, although that is still being determined) include the Yogo Ultralight mat and the Yogo Ultralong mat, which is essentially a larger version of the first.
Other notable features include a top-to-top folding technique that keeps the mat clean even after use on gym floors, a sticky grip to reduce slipping and sliding, design traits that make it easy to travel with and attach to other luggage and an easy-to-clean functionality that allows the mat to drip dry in the shower after use.
The 4.0 version of Thompson’s products launched this spring. “It’s been deeply fulfilling to bring this technical background to bear on better products and put forth a more sustainable business model that addresses the climate crisis,” Thompson said.
