How This Australian Activewear Brand Is Keeping Plastic Out of Landfills

This feature is dedicated to our #NoChangeNoFuture initiative. From the Women’s March, to Australia voting yes to same sex marriage, and the #MeToo movement, 2017 taught us to look beyond ourselves and come together as a collective of powerful women who are writing our own history. Join us as we commit to being the change we want to see in 2018. Because without change, there is no future.

You may know Nimble Activewear as the Bondi-based brand behind your favourite leggings, but what you might not know is the positive impact the brand is having on the environment. By using an eco-friendly fabric in it’s COMPRESSLITE range, Nimble Activewear is changing the fashion landscape. To use the term "impressive" would be an understatement. 

Nimble Activewear launched in 2014, and since then, the brand has seen astronomical levels of success. Yet, despite the monetary gains the brand has made in such a short period of time, more impressive is the focus on sustainability that it upholds. This year alone, the brand has kept 94,300 plastic bottles out of landfills by using a fabric made from a yarn created from the melted plastic.

The entire COMPRESSLITE range uses this fabric, and though it may seem like a subtle change from using traditional materials, it's nevertheless making a huge difference. With each pair of leggings requiring four bottles to create, and each sports bra using one, it’s easy to see how the numbers quickly add up to make for a huge impact. In addition to reusing old bottles that would otherwise be considered trash, the process involved in creating the aforementioned fabric creates 50 percent less carbon dioxide than the standard manufacturing of virgin material, making the environmental benefits of the range twofold.

“Sadly the global fashion industry is the second most polluting industry in the world and Nimble Activewear is proud to be taking big steps to change this,” Vera Yan, one of the brand’s co-founder shares. And while it is a sad truth that fashion is harming our planet, to see brands like this making changes gives us hope that the course of fashion history can be re-written. By adopting more eco-friendly practices when it comes to textiles, manufacturing, and even our attitudes towards shopping, the industry can begin to take steps towards positive change—but it requires all of us to help be a part of it. If you’re feeling inspired by Nimble Activewear and are looking for some new gym outfits, keep scrolling to see our favourite COMPRESSLITE styles.

Related: Even Celebs Love Wearing These Sustainable Sneakers