Sustainable is the new buzzword as the world slowly wakes up to the demolition today’s world has created of the environment.
More and more brands are looking for sustainable and eco-friendly solutions to their business and this filters down to the product with a focus on environmentally friendlier fabrics, fibres, technologies and factories.
At Blue Associates Sportswear, we have invested a lot in the research and development of sustainable sportswear, and we are now at the forefront of producing eco sportswear that is less harmful to the environment.
We have a huge database of fabric mills around the world we work closely with and now produce activewear using many different types of fibres, from recycled polyesters and nylons that are made from ocean plastic, merino wool, bamboo, carbon, hemp, tencil and econyl.
One of the most popular fabrics is recycled polyester that is produced by collection plastic from the ocean, grinding these into tiny flakes and then melting them into pellets that are then heated and spun into a yarn. 30% less energy is used to produce recycled polyester than virgin polyester and it’s also helping to clean up the trillions of plastic waste in our oceans.
Recycled polyester also uses a lot less water to produce than virgin synthetic fabrics with studies claiming this could be a saving of up to 90% and 1kg of RPET recycled plastic polyester used around 60 water bottles.
The journey doesn’t stop there though. Making the sportwear from more environmentally friendly or sustainable fabrics is only part of the story, we also have a network of factories that have eco-credentials to help reduce the carbon footprint of the manufacturing process.
One of our factories has a short-term goal to become completely sustainable, with heat source pumps and solar panels providing enough power to run their factory and supply electricity back to the grid.
We can select specific chemical treatments that are more environmentally friendly than the standard finish and the trims we design are produced using the same care and attention to be sustainable or environmentally friendly.
The future of sportswear will look very different in the next decade with all sportswear brands having a complete collection that is produced in an environmentally way. The public will demand this and if you don’t comply to this demand, the brand will lose traction.
We have worked with several brands on developing sustainable products that cause as little harm to the environment as possible. We have selected fibres that are completely sustainable and harmless to the environment to produce and also at the end of the garments life when it degrades back into the earth. The factory, components and trims are all sourced locally to reduce the carbon footprint and the packaging is also produced from eco materials that are also reusable.
There is an additional cost to this as many of the fabrics, trims and resources cost more than non-environmentally friendly, standard fabrics and trims, however, the demand from consumers who are willing to pay this extra is strong and the cost to the planet is priceless.
Are you ready to start your sustainable sportswear brand? Want to know more? Get in touch now to see how we can help you become sustainable.
