Ocean Plastic Fashion: How to Save The World By Getting Dressed

Now it’s easier than ever to do good for our environment—all you have to do is get dressed. Ocean plastic is turning into fashion thanks to some brands that are stepping up to reduce plastic waste by recycling the stuff that makes its way back to shore, and all you have to do is upgrade your wardrobe.

Plastic pollution is a big issue, especially in our oceans. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now twice the size of Texas, and if plastic waste isn’t eaten on the surface by birds or marine life, it’s either entangling them or breaking down into micro-plastic to make its way back into our food chain. According to BBC, anyone consuming an “average amount” of seafood in a given year ingests some 11,000 plastic particles annually. Yikes.

To help reduce plastic waste you can start by sticking with the good old RRR’s; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (more on that, here). But if you are in need of some new threads to keep you looking fresh these wardrobe must-haves can keep our beaches looking that way too. P.S) If you’re looking for ways to donate or upcycle old clothing check out our board on Pinterest.

adidas® Parley shoes

Adidas and non-profit Parley for the Oceans joined forces to create the UltraBoost shoe line, made out of plastic debris collected from beaches around the world. Each pair of shoes reuses 11 bottles worth of plastic!

Norton Point Sunglasses

Massachusetts based company Norton Point offers a collection of eco-friendly sunglasses made out of plastic rubbish gathered on the shores of Martha’s Vineyard, so you can literally “sea” a cleaner ocean.

G-Star RAW for The Oceans

Hip-hop mogul Pharrell Williams’, creator of clothing company G-Star RAW, teamed up with Bionic Yarn to create a new collection of eco-friendly apparel and sustainable denim made with recycled ocean plastic. The line features creative nautical patterns and graphic abstracts for men who want to do good and look great doing it.

Toms + Oceana Collection

Toms is well known for its One for One campaign which provides a child in need with a pair of shoes for every pair sold, and now they’ve also working to protect marine life. Their limited edition collection benefits the advocacy work of Oceana to help protect whales, dolphins, fish and other marine species impacted by fishing practices, and other issues like ocean plastic.

H&M’s 2018 Conscious Collection

H&M’s Conscious Exclusive Collection which launched just this past April, features accessories and apparel made from recycled silver and ECONYL®, a 100% regenerated fibre from fishnets and other nylon waste.

Girlfriend Collective

Girlfriend Collective offers sustainable and stylish leggings, each made from 25 recycled plastic bottles in an SA8000 certified fair trade factory in Vietnam. In addition to reducing ocean plastic waste, the company also provides its workers with a guaranteed living wage and fair working conditions.

4Ocean Bracelets

4Ocean Bracelets are made with recycled materials, and every bracelet sold funds the removal of one pound of trash from our oceans and coastlines. In under 2 years, they have successfully removed more than 812,400 pounds of trash to protect endangered marine life, like their mascot sea turtles.

Sea Bags

Sea Bags creates handcrafted and custom tote bags made entirely from sails collected from the local boating community in their hometown of Maine, New England. Sea Bags also uses eco-friendly inks and employs innovative methods for reducing scrap which have helped it save 500 tons of material ending up in landfills over the last 15 years.

Know of other organizations doing good for our oceans or water? Share your thoughts with others in the comments below!