We started MOANA surf shop out of love for the ocean. From the moment we started we knew we didn’t want to be just your regular surf shop. We are driven by a social mission and dedicated to live by our mission whenever we can. One of our pillars is sustainability. On an island as Bonaire we see the effects of plastic pollution daily. But guess what, fashion and especially swimwear is a tricky business when you talk about sustainability…
Synthetic fabrics
The vast majority of swimsuits is made from synthetic fabrics because of the performance qualities that enable swimsuits to the necessary stretch and durability as well as resistance to chlorine, salt water and the sun.
Not only the production of these fabrics come at a cost for the environment, requiring a huge amount of energy and petroleum for their production. The waste that comes from the production of these fabrics is non-biodegradable. With other words, the production of swimwear highly increases the amount of plastic in the world.
So what do we do?
Repreve
To help lower the amount of plastic it is important to recycle. Repreve is a fiber that is made out of recycled plastic bottles and is now being used in swimwear as well. Sounds cool right? At MOANA surf shop we only work with brands that do good for the world, and one of those things is that they use recycled or upcycled fabrics for their products such as Repreve.
Curious how a plastic bottle transforms into your new bikini or pair of boardshorts?
Check out the video below!
Econyl
The products you’ll find in MOANA surf shop often contain Econyl. This type of nylon is made out of waste from landfills and oceans. Econyl goes beyond the conventional recycling process and uses regeneration which ensures that the new fabric is exactly the same as raw virgin nylon. Just to put the impact in numbers: for every 10,000 ton of Econyl material made, it spares 57,100 tons of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere and 70,000 barrels of crude oil from being used. If you ask us, they should obligate everybody to use Econyl instead of new nylon! We don’t understand why not? Check out below and find out how you are really helping to save the planet by buying products made with Econyl.
Cocotex
Last but not least we have our famous boardies made out of coconuts. Que??? Yes, you read that right, coconuts! Most of the time coconuts are being used for the inner portion. It’s made into food, medical or cosmetic products. The outer husk is considered waste and discarded. Thanks to Cocotex the ‘waste’ is turned into a carbon fabric, and combined with Repreve it makes this fabric everything you wish for in a pair of boardies!
Check out the video below for the story of the perfect boardshorts…
So whenever you need to upgrade your swimwear wardrobe, you now know what to look for. And with our collection you don’t have to choose between sustainability and style. Becoming a conscious consumer means that you help shape the future of the fashion industry and even on an island as small as Bonaire, you can find a better choice. Each purchase helps to make a difference.