Small Aussie brand reimagining swimwear to cut ocean pollution

With billions of pieces of plastic washing up on our beaches every day, an Aussie beachwear start-up is vowing to change this scenario by reimagining swimwear.

The Lifestyle Co’s 2EROS and Supawear collections reinforce the mantra of the company’s founder – Jason Hoeung – that having quality swimwear does not mean we have to compromise our core values. “At the heart of The Lifestyle Co is the fact that no matter where we are in life, we can always aim to ‘look good, do good and feel good’,” Hoeung explains.

The NSW Government recently reported that approximately 95 per cent of the litter on the state’s beaches was made of single-use plastic, prompting a single-use plastics ban starting that came into force this month, an initiative that matches The Lifestyle Co’s aims. “The NSW plastic bans are just the beginning of our massive shift away from single-use plastic, and they’ll prevent 2.7 billion items of plastic litter from entering the environment over the next 20 years,” Hoeung enthuses.

“While we evolve with all these necessary changes, our team have developed, and is continuing to develop, a sustainable program from which the brand can operate and grow whilst taking care of their customers and the environment at the same time,” Hoeung adds.

“Our newest collections see all our swimwear repurposing up to 10 PET plastic bottles per item. And in the most recent releases, for every swim short produced, we have repurposed up to 18 plastic bottles instead of letting them sit in our landfill and oceans, creating toxic substances in our soil and water for decades and decades to come.”

In just a year since launching, The Lifestyle Co has already been able to redirect and repurpose over 240,000 bottles from the oceans and landfill. “As they say, every part counts,” Hoeung says. “Collectively as citizens of the planet, we can all contribute in any way we can no matter how small it may seem. Here at The Lifestyle Co we can champion the change together, for a better planet, today, not tomorrow. One item of swimwear at a time.”