Eco swimwear- It was fate!

Ok so a few facts first.

I hate shopping. I’m not a fan of the beach and I definitely don’t like swimming in the ocean... but I do often go on holidays to tropical destinations and do all of the above things...

I’m very excited to be heading off to Airlie beach in the next few weeks and it dawned on me, since having slacked off on my training, none of my bathers fit.

I am currently obsessed with Waste Not (a book) by Erin Rhoads, and she is forever reminding me to be mindful, ethical and responsible about the things I bring into my life. So when the quest for new bathers came up, I headed straight to the Google machine to find myself some ethical, eco friendly swimwear.

I did 2 days worth of research, I looked through approximately 13 websites and only found One pair that I really loved the look of (partly why I hate shopping) and it was $220 (another reason haha, which for a non shopper and non beach goer, is a lot of money for bathers, but I understand that well made, ethically produced products are worth investing my hard earned dollars on)

My research provided me with a huge data base of websites for ethical swimware, all of which can be found by googling Ethical Swimwear or Eco Swimwear Australia. And I learned that

Eco and Ethical can mean so many things, from being responsibly made locally, to using eco friendly materials and dyes, to sending profits to charities, etc. All of the brands had something to offer in this department and it was amazing to see just how many brands got on board. I had never heard of 99% of the brands, until then I stumbled across Seafolly, which even as an avid shopping avoider, I knew a little something about.

Alas I gave up the online search for bathers and vowed to spend the next month furiously training in an effort to get into my old bathers...

Then, on a whim, I went to the local shopping center with my shopaholic and she wandered into a swimwear store. While she was trying on a pair, I wandered absent mindedly around the store. Usually I’m a toucher, I run my hand across materials as I walk, but today I didn’t, until I spotted one pair. A cute salmon one piece. My hand instinctively reached for the price tag, but the ticket I found was much more alluring! It read “Recycled Nylon” and my heart rose! So I checked the size, yep that’s my size! Is this fate? I had to try it on, it fit like a glove!

What are the chances?? The only product I look at in the whole store, just what I was after and in my size. (I also used vouchers I’d been gifted for Xmas to purchase the item so it didn’t even cost me anything!)

It was definitely fate. Thank you Seafolly for making a huge move towards sustainable and responsible swimwear.

I did also check lots of other products in the shop after finding my piece, and no others were seafolly and no others claimed to be eco or ethical *sad face* but I found my one little sparkle in my dreaded shopping experience (which turned out to be quite fun, thanks shopaholic).

And now I can swim happily in the big scary ocean, knowing I did another small but impactful thing to help save it.

If you have any swimwear you want to share about, or other clothing brands, please comment and let me know!

Until next time, keep doing one small thing, that amounts to one huge thing.

-EnviroJen