Save the ocean with a pair of Billabong boardshorts
Save the ocean with a pair of Billabong boardshorts
If you ever owned a pair of Billabong boardshorts, you know they are extremely confortable, amazingly good looking and very functional, but did you know that your boardshorts were also made from recycled plastic bottles?!
Billabong has been making some of the best boardshorts in the game for quite a while and stepped its game up even more in 2007, when the brand decided to make the first boardshort made entirely from recycled plastic. That’s right! Billabong was the first to do it and still does it more than ever today, saving the ocean one boardshort at a time!
Today, Billabong can say that ALL of their boardshorts are made from recycled PET, making them some of the most eco-friendly garments of all time. When you think about it, every time someone buys a pair of Billabong boardshorts, we make a step forward for a greener future!
PET means polyethylene terephthalate, the scientific word for the plastic that’s used to make water, soda or any type of plastic bottles. The big particularity of this material is that it's fully recyclable, but unfortunately, PET often ends up in the ocean, where it can’t be recycled.
It’s obvious that Billabong and the ocean are two things that go perfectly hand in hand and for this reason, the brand decided to take action and to reduce the amount of plastic in the ocean by transforming it into fabrics and creating some of the best quality boardshorts on the market.
It is true that energy is necessary to transform the bottles into materials, but when we look at the actual data, the ecological footprint of this process remains way less impactful on the environment than to make boardshorts the traditional way.
The process of transforming a water bottle into a pair of shorts is pretty simple. First, you gather some used plastic bottles, then comes the transformation process.
From there, the plastic bottles are shredded into flakes by a machine (that can be run on renewable energy!). Those flakes are melted down into pellets, then the pellets are extruded (think spun and pulled like taffy) into yarn. The yarn is then knitted, cut, and sewn into clothing just like any other yarn.
THE BOARDSHORTS
We tried the Billabong boardshorts ourselves and despite a certain fear that the recycled materials would offer a fabric that's less flexible and soft than normal, we were really surprised by their comfort. The boardies are really flexible and seamless to avoid friction and allow total comfort. Their adjustment is always simple, but always perfect.
The shorts offer several designs and technical levels, but are always made from the same basic material, PET, or plastic bottles. They have a sturdy and secure but easy to open velcro pocket, elastic drawstrings, tasty prints and fresh, timeless styles!
At the end of the day, a surf company that is progressing towards a more sustainable future whilst making it cool to care gets the Empire stamp of approval, 100%.
