It’s that time of year again. The weather is starting to get warmer, and we just lost an hour of sleep. It means it’s time to pack away the winter sweaters and start bringing out my summer t shirts and shorts. It also means I need to look into my swimwear. Last time I checked I realized I could use some more suits. So, I began my search for my summer swimwear. And of course, I started my search by looking for sustainable products.
As if the computer were reading my mind, I suddenly got an email from the company Vitamin A. It was called Sustainability Sunday. I opened the email, and it provided tips on how to reduce your carbon footprint. I was very impressed. Not only was this company advertising its products, but it was also educating its potential customers. This seemed like a company that I wanted to purchase from. The email said New year, less waste. I liked that. So, I read on. The email had 3 tips to help reduce waste. The first one was to take care of clothes – that you can extend the life of an item by washing it in cold water and hanging it dry, which is better for the environment and which we happen to do in my household. Of course, by “we” I mean my mom but that’s just semantics. The point is that our household actually does this waste conserving exercise! The second tip was to buy better and buy less. It recommended shopping sustainable brands that use recycled materials. Exactly what I was doing! The third and last tip was rewear, recyle and reuse to help keep clothing out of landfills. Now that I felt good about my own personal contribution to the environment (since I did all of their tips) and I was fully impressed by this company, I decided to head to their website to find out more about them before I committed to purchasing any of their products. But so far things looked good. When I got to the website, I saw that there was an entire tab dedicated to Sustainability.
I started by reading about their story. I wanted to understand who the people behind Vitamin A were. What made them start this company? What is this company about? What does it stand for? It said that they believe style and sustainability are inseparable. Guess what? So do I! They are about feeling good, looking good and doing good. Well, that sounds good to me. Vitamin A and I are definitely on the same page.
So, I went further and clicked on the Materials tab to see exactly what made these clothes good for our environment. Upon reading I found out that their clothes are made from innovative, plant-based and recycled materials. The word innovative peaks my interest. I like to be innovative. I am innovative. We really are on the same page. It’s like we were meant to be. In addition to the recycled nylon and cotton that they use to make their products, they also use recycled fabric made from ghost fishing nets. I had never even heard of anything like this. Clothes from fishing nets? Or rather ghost fishing nets? Now my curiosity had really peaked.
What is a ghost fishing net? I looked it up on my other favorite friend, Google. After reading through many, many articles, I almost regretted looking it up. Unfortunately, once I had started, I could not stop. Sort of like when you can’t stop staring at an accident. You really want to, but you just can’t. Anyway, a ghost fishing net is a fishing net that has been lost or abandoned in the ocean. That doesn’t seem so bad until you read about how harmful they are to the ocean and marine life. One net can catch hundreds of animals. They not only catch fish, but they also catch sea turtles, dolphins, porpoises, bird, sharks, seals and more. You get the point – if it is in the ocean, it can be trapped by a ghost net. Once entangled, sea creatures can either be physically dismembered or even worse. I get slightly physically sick as I start to give these words meaning. At that moment all I could picture was Flipper and my heart sank. Also, ghost nets not only harm the sea animals, but they are also a threat to the rest of the marine life. They can be harmful to coral reefs, which are a crucial part of the ocean ecosystem. The ghost nets can break the coral reefs, exposing them to disease and blocking them from sunlight.
Current fishing nets are generally made from nylon or other plastic compounds that can last for centuries. They never actually fully go away. They just become smaller pieces of plastic. So, marine animals mistake these small pieces of plastic for food and eat it, which is obviously not good for their insides. Apparently, years ago fishing nets were made from biodegradable hemp or cotton. So, my first thought was why on earth did we stop making it like that? Each article I found and read was harder than the next. After all that reading I felt like going to the ocean myself and trying to pull out all of the debris.
Okay, so back to the main reason for this post. I will definitely come back to the ghost nets at a different time and in a different post. Next, I clicked on the “Our Practices” tab. I learned that Vitamin A was the first company to use recycled materials for swimwear. Their founder was the first to trademark a sustainable swim fabric made of recycled material and all of their materials are certified to meet the global standards for safe textiles. This definitely sounded innovative to me.
Also, the majority of their products are made in local factories (and all in the United States) to reduce the emissions for shipping and transporting raw materials. And the company uses digital printing for most of their prints. Digital printing, unlike wet printing, reduces water use since it requires less wash and rinse cycles and fabric waste since it can be adjusted to fit a garment. There are also no screens that need cleaning. Good for the environment and our economy – way to go Vitamin A!
Through their website I also learned a few other ways that Vitamin A is helping to protect our environment and conserve resources. Their factories are dedicated to reducing their carbon footprint by using LED lightbulbs, low flow water fixtures, occupancy sensory lights, and 100% recyclable paper products. Also, their mailing processes follow the same suit. All of their mailers are 100% recycled and recyclable. And each of their garment bags are in a flap and seal bag that’s 100% recyclable and backyard compostable. And they never use more than needed. Which really impresses me because I cannot begin to tell you how many times my small order of soap comes in a box big enough for me to fit myself in.
To top it off, they partner with organizations that protect the environment and donate a portion of their sales to environmental organizations working to protect our oceans.
What impressed me the most about Vitamin A was not just their use of sustainable materials, which of course is impressive in and of itself, but their dedication to raise awareness and generate change. At this point I realize that it was not just chance that brought that email to my computer. This was a relationship meant to be. And now my biggest question would be which cosmo swimsuit color to order – ocean metallic, sea green or maybe coral glow?
BreitLights 
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