Swimwear by its nature not eco-friendly (only one company makes organic swimwear but at $300 a pop, most people won’t be buying it). And wearing cotton t-shirts is not recommended, as they could swell up in water and cause drowning. Conventional swimwear used to be made from nylon, and now most is made from econyl (nylon made from fishing waste). Sounds good, but this still leaches microplastics out to sea (or if laundered in the machine).
Sustainability experts say the best advice is just to find the most sustainable swimwear you can (unless planning to swim in the buff at a nudist beach!) then just rinse and dry costumes flat.
Environmental professor Timo A. Räsänen says that recycled polyester from bottles sheds more microfibers (ideally bottles should just be recycled to make more bottles). Putting them into garments removes them from ‘closed loop recycling system’s and leads to more plastics leaching into oceans. You can use microplastic catchers (but most people don’t own them). And even then, collected fibres at landfill end up in drains, if there’s heavy rainfall.
where to recycle unwanted swimwear
No matter what the brand, just ensure it’s clean then send unwanted swimwear to Tide + Seek, which is then send to a recycling company and made into insulation, carpet underlay and sports equipment filler.
where to rent a (slightly greener) wetsuit
If you go wild swimming or surf the ocean waves, you can rent (or buy) slightly greener wetsuits from Finisterre, which are made from Yulex® natural rubber (a better alternative to neoprene that cuts carbon emissions by 80%). it still has some recycled synthetic material, but it’s the best to choose right now. Just rinse after use (don’t machine-wash or dry clean). Just order, then after you’ve used it, stick the prepaid returns label on the bag it came in, and send it back. Obviously ‘serious surfers’ may find it more economical to buy.
