Using last year’s is always the most sustainable option, but if the idea is to buy something new, let it be one that makes sense. We help you choose.
The good weather has arrived and with it the impulse to want to buy a new swimsuit or bikini model for the beach.
While you should ideally use the options you already have, how about proudly investing in a more responsibly produced Portuguese product? We bring you some national brands dedicated to sustainable swimwear.
Cleome was born in 2017 with the goal of bringing new and more conscious swimwear designs to the market that would bring women attitude, confidence and comfort. The brand has a physical store in Porto, the city where the project was born.
The production process is entirely local and the main material used in the parts is Econyl, a 100% regenerative raw material produced through pre and post industrial waste. This material also excels since it is resistant to chlorine, oils, and sun creams, with UV protection.
For the brand, the important thing is to keep improving and constantly growing in its environmental pact, with the help and suggestions of customers, as they states on their website “We intend to keep learning and looking for ways to help our planet.”
Travelling down in the national map we find, based in the capital, the Conscious Swimwear brand. A project started by Joana Silva in 2019, which was born with the goal of matching the needs of modern women in both comfort and sustainable production.
Also using Econyl as raw material, the swimsuits and bikinis are created mostly through garbage taken from the oceans (such as industrial plastics and fishing nets) and sewn in the brand’s atelier in Lisbon so that every fiber is used to the maximum.
In addition to these ethical and sustainable concerns, the brand is part of the 1% for the planet association, which is a certified international organization whose members contribute at least one percent of their annual sales to environmental causes. The brand discloses on its website that it seeks to have a local impact by making these donations to Portuguese non-profit organizations.
You may have heard of this brand through its collaborations with Portuguese digital influencers, but if you haven’t heard of it yet, we’ll introduce you. Drope Clothing arrived on the swimwear fashion market in 2019 by debuting with a collection inspired by the Philippines, all collections released by the brand look to different paradisiacal locations for inspiration.
In terms of sustainability, the brand tries to use recycled fabrics like Econyl in certain collections, through a collaboration with Healthy Seas (an organization that collects fishing nets lost at the bottom of the sea with the help of volunteer divers).
In addition to ensuring that all shipments are completely plastic-free and packaging is made from recycled material, Drope also strives to minimize material waste in the production process, with handmade items and leftovers used to make accessories offered to customers.
Kalimera emerged from the hands of Sara Arrais first as a blog in 2015, about fashion and travel, and later, in 2021, as “a beachwear brand that expresses the way I see and feel the world, my origins and the places, people and cultures I’ve met along the way,” as Sara describes on the Kalimera Collection website.
With the goal of ensuring high quality and durable pieces, always with sustainability in mind, the material used in the production of the swimwear is, again, Econyl. In order to avoid waste, Kalimera produces parts in limited numbers rather than mass production on a pre-sale purchasing system.
The products’ shipping packages do not contain any plastic and use environmentally certified paper “that guarantees the responsible use of forest resources and the maintenance of soil, air, and water quality”.
The Oiôba brand was created as a project to “promote love and good energy” through colorful, high-quality swimwear and sportswear. Besides good energy, passion for nature is a priority, as they make a point of stressing on their website “Respect and attraction for all that is pure and organic”.
Based in Porto, the clothes are handmade in a small studio by two experienced seamstresses – Oiôba guarantees that priority is above quantity and local, handmade production is essential to the brand.
The collections are produced using 100% recycled materials, and the materials left over after the pieces are produced are even reused for gift bags or scrunchies, in order to avoid waste.
Have you fallen in love with any of these brands? We encourage you to find out more about them on their websites, but remember that, as a general rule, the most sustainable option is always to reuse what you already have, as well as to take a look at what is available in second-hand stores if you feel the need to innovate this summer.
Created by the University of the Algarve’s Marine Sciences Center, the Plant a Coral project aims to rescue specimens accidentally caught in fishing nets and
The sanctuary will conserve the resident population of more than 200 sperm whales living near the Caribbean island of Dominica and sequester carbon off the
This article promotes an action that encourages the reduction of waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling, and reuse.
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This article addresses an action that promotes the conservation and sustainable use of oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development. This SDG aims to prevent and reduce marine pollution of all kinds, particularly from land-based activities.
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