Wear something that is good for the ocean. Fourth Element has introduced subtle imagery and exciting new designs with the eagerly awaited OceanPositive 2017 Swimwear collection, made using recycled “ghost” fishing nets.
Ghost fishing nets have been lost or abandoned at sea, and continue to catch wildlife, ensnaring and killing them, or end up snagged on reef, scouring their surfaces, leaving them dead and barren. More than 600,000 tonnes of these nets are lost every year. Teams of divers all over the world, along with fishermen reclaim these nets, often working in extremely dangerous conditions, and the nets are then recycled along with other post-consumer nylon waste into ECONYL® before being knitted into Lycra® fabric for the OceanPositive swimwear line.
The 2017 collection features new designs to fit a greater variety of body shapes and a unique printed fabric design that is reminiscent of the net from which the fabric is made. The addition of “yoga pant” style leggings for women and a coordinated range of long-sleeved rash guards, extends the range into broader categories than simply swimwear, and are at home as much above as below the water.
The launch coincides with much greater awareness of the issues of plastic pollution in the ocean, and marine conservation issues in general. Fourth Element’s Managing Director, Paul Strike was invited to present the company’s vision for commercializing plastic pollution at June’s Ocean Conference at the United Nations in New York.
“It is possible to imagine a world where there was no way to make any new plastics. If this were to happen, human ingenuity would find a way to recycle all this waste we produce and as a result reduce our impact on the planet. We don’t want to wait for that time, we want to be a part of this solution now,” said Paul. “The OceanPositive range is a statement of intent, to do something meaningful to benefit the environment that we love and feel compelled to protect.”
Available from selected dive shops and online at www.fourthelement.com
