UNTRASHING THE OCEANS
From plastic bottles to swimwear
Sandbar Swimwear is made from plastic bottles - that's right, plastic bottles!
Billions of plastic bottles go into our earth and oceans every year. We decided that enough was enough and wanted to find a way to re-route all the plastic pouring into the oceans.
Each garment is made from approx 5-8 plastic bottles.
By using plastic bottles to make our rash guards, swimsuits and swim shorts, we are also preventing new plastics from being made. Most swimwear is made from polyester, spandex or nylon which require petroleum to be extracted and refined. By simply using the plastic floating around, we are saving energy and reducing further carbon emissions.
Go team planet Earth!
A NEW LIFE
A plastic bottle make-over
How exactly does a plastic bottle turn into a swimsuit?
Follow the life of a bottle once it enters the recycling and processing facility.
The plastic bottles are shredded and melted, quite literally stripped back down into their raw form, spun into yarn and used to make various fantastic textiles.
SANDBAR CUSTOMERS HAVE RECYCLED
PLASTIC BOTTLES SO FAR!
Where does our fabric come from
Sandbar Swimwear is made using REPREVE fabric, which is used by global brands for their recycled fabric clothing lines.
REPREVE has its own Bottle Processing Center and REPREVE Recycling Center to transform plastic bottles into flake, resin and premium high performance fiber suitable for active and swimwear.
REPREVE is made by a US company called Unifi. Unifi has recycled over 30 billion plastic bottles and has introduced a U TRUST® verification, with traceable FiberPrint® technology, to ensure that fabrics can be certified and verified.
Tested round the world
As parents we want to protect our kids and getting them to wear protective clothing comes down to how it feels when it's on. Our family matching Rash guards, swimsuits and swim shorts are all made with this in mind. After 2 years of testing we have produced swimwear which is silky soft, airy light, breathable and fast drying.
All our swimwear has been tested against Australian, EU and US UPF standards and we have been given a UPF50+ rating.
Australia - AS 4399:2020 - UPF rating 50+
Europe - BS EN 13758-2002 - UPF rating >50
United States - AATCC TM 183-2020 - UPF rating 50+