After months of soggy weather, summer has FINALLY arrived - and so too have summer holidays. 

If you’re lucky you’ll be taking some time out with the family either in this country or abroad, and possibly spending it by the beach or pool.

If, like me, you root around in the back of a drawer to find some kind of holiday swimming get-up for the kids, hoping it still fits from last year - only to find it’s faded and all the elastic’s gone… it’s time to invest in a new set.

But before you do, there’s something you should know: normal swimwear is bad for the environment.

But don’t worry, here at My Little Green Wardrobe, we’ve got you covered with a collection of more sustainably-made swimmers.

So, what’s up with normal swimwear?

Most swimwear is made from oil-based synthetic materials like nylon, spandex and polyester, which is problematic for several reasons. 

• Virgin oil - i.e. oil that is newly refined, and not previously used - is used to make these materials. As you know, fossil fuels like oil are a rapidly depleting natural resource and have a huge carbon footprint throughout extraction and fibre production.
• Materials like nylon, spandex and polyester aren’t biodegradable which means they end up in landfill or polluting the planet for hundreds of years.
• These materials shed and break down into microplastics - extremely small pieces of plastic debris in the environment - which get washed into the ocean and infiltrate the food chain.

What is our recycled swimwear made from?

At My Little Green Wardrobe we stock recycled swimwear, which is made from a new eco fabric composed of items like discarded fishing nets, carpet flooring, industrial plastic and fabric scraps.

This is better for four main reasons:

1. It regenerates non-biodegradable materials.
2. It cleans up the environment. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, at least eight million tons of plastic is dumped in the ocean every year. Cleaning up even some of that is a start.
3. Regenerating petroleum based materials into new fabrics reduces pressure on virgin resources.
4. Fewer greenhouse gas emissions are involved with the production of regenerated nylon.

Not only is our swimwear kinder to the environment, but it’s also kind to children’s skin: the fabric used has a UPF50+ rating (the highest possible rating for sun protection) and is ultra-chlorine resistant, sun cream resistant and has excellent shape retention.

This summer make sure your little ones are wearing swimwear that combines comfort, style and durability with being kind to the planet.