WE ARE CONTRIBUTING TO A CLEANER PLANET
One of our missions when we started this brand was to create minimal impact to the environment, and our first thought was “let's be ethical”, meaning that we wanted to be environment friendly, from swimwear production all the way through the process to shipping your order to you. We tought it might be nice to tell you a little bit about the pratices we take to contribute to a healthier planet & more sustainable fashion.
We aim to create swimwear designs that outlast the season, remain in fashion and can be worn year after year. We only produce our collections in small batches, to avoid overproduction and waste.
STANDING FOR SOMETHING BETTER - PROTECTING THE OCEAN
Every year, thousands of fishing nets are discarded in the oceans. These are the invisible killers of our marine life. Marine mammals, seabirds, turtles, and fish become physically entangled in loops or openings of drifting debris, and ingest small fragments of synthetic materials. Once entangled, animals may drown, suffer inability to catch food or avoid predators, incur wounds and infections from the abrasive or cutting action of attached debris.
100 million marine animals die each year from plastic waste. While we can't fix this devastation, we can help by cleaning our oceans from fishing nets and other plastic waste and transforming it into a long lasting, quality material.
Animals are trapped and suffocated by the ghosts fishing nets, their habitat is destroyed and even the reef is impacted.
MAKING A CHANGE
Setting ourselves apart from the average swimsuit brands, we are striving for our swimsuits to do no harm to the seas and oceans that surround us. Therefore, we carefully chose a fabric that is both ethical and luxurious, sourced from a recycled fabric supplier in Italy; ECONYL®. Their fabrics are of exceptional quality and 100 % regenerated from reclaimed industrial and post-consumer waste such as fishing nets and other plastic waste found in our oceans.
CREATING NEW FROM OLD, WHERE IT ALL STARTS?
With the help of divers and amazing charities, such as Healthy Seas, Ghost Diving and Net-WorksTM initiative, ghost fishing nets and other plastic waste are retrieved from the oceans and landfils all over the world, and recycled into fabric we then use to make our ANCHIE swimwear.
Fishing nets being retrieved in Croatia (Source: Healthy Seas).
The collected ocean waste is sent to the waste treatment center in Ajdovscina, Slovenia to be then sorted and cleaned to recover all of the nylon possible. It is then transfered to Ljubljana, Slovenia where it is 100 % regenerated back to its original purity.
The Aquafil comapny in Slovenia is the only company in the world that has the technology to turn old fishing nets into regenerated nylon. This way we are able to ensure that none of our swimwear require first generation virgin nylon. Research and innovation led Aquafil to launch the ECONYL® Regeneration System project: a highly innovative industrial system that allows turning disused nylon into a secondary raw material for new products, therefore avoiding new waste entering the environment.
WHAT IS ECONYL® AND WHY IS IT SO SPECIAL?
ECONYL® is a form of nylon that is made entirely from waste products. It is made from a range of post-consumer waste including abandoned fishing nets, plastic bottles, carpets and rigid textiles.
For every 10,000 tonnes of raw materials recycled into ECONYL®, 70,000 barrels of crude oil are saved, and 57,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions are avoided compared to traditional production methods!
This is Paolo in Ajdovscina, preparing recovered fishing nets for regeneration into ECONYL® sustainable nylon yarn.
This picture is part of a series ECONYL® did with their workers in Slovenia for Fashion Revolution Week. Paolo and his colleagues are working in the Slovenian plant where ECONYL® 100 % regenerated nylon yarn is produced.
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We are very proud to be working with such an amazing and ethical company by providing us fabrics that are regenerated from nylon contained in waste such as fishing nets, carpets and other nylon waste and are then transformed back into raw material without any loss of quality.
Remember that we all have the power to make a change and with small steps we can contribute to a healthier planet.
We thank you so much if you choose to support us because of this. You are helping us grow and achieve our dreams towards a sustainable, eco-conscious brand and create new practice in the fashion industry. Together we can make a difference!
Thank you for reading.
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Relevant supporting articles:
Laist, D.W. (1987). Overview of the biological effects of lost and discarded plastic debris in the marine environment.
ECONYL®. Sourced from: https://www.econyl.com/the-process/ & https://www.econyl.com/blog/its-fashion-revolution-week-time-to-reflect-on-our-progress-and-the-power-of-questions/
Aquafil. Sourced from: https://www.aquafil.com/sustainability/econyl/