Sustainability
Sustainability is not a choice. It is a basic need
From the beginning, we have been aware and committed towards integrating ethical and sustainable practices at all levels of our operation. While working towards 100% sustainability, we at COEGA Sunwear are trying our best to achieve this with small steps wherever possible.
Our Materials
We are striving to use more and more recycled and regenerated fabric in our swimwear. Most of our swimwear contains ECONYL® yarn, which is 100% regenerated nylon fibre/yarn made from nylon waste otherwise polluting the Earth, like fishing nets, fabric scraps, carpet flooring, and industrial plastic.
We have launched our sustainable eco collection by COÉGA Sunwear. All our signature pieces under this collection including modest swimwear, are locally made here in the UAE (reduced carbon foot print) using sustainable fabric made of ECONYL® regenerated nylon.
The ECONYL® nylon is exactly same as brand new nylon but with a sustainability edge, whereby waste is recycled, recreated and remoulded. Apart from recycling waste, ECONYL® is also better when it comes to climate change and reduces the global warming impact of nylon by up to 90% compared with the material from oil.
Moreover, most of our fabric printing is done employing the Sublimation technique, which is regarded as a more eco-friendly alternative. This form of printing results in minimum wastage and limited usage of water. Sublimation printing is proven to give great results on recycled polyester fabric.
Slow Fashion & Small Batch Production
As an organization, we support slow fashion. For our wholesale customers, we produce as per the order quantity. For e-commerce and other customers, we manufacture in small batches of the minimum required quantity.
Moreover, most of our swimwear is made from long-lasting fabric with Lycra XtraLife This ensures that our swimwear provides long-lasting comfort, fit and shape with no bagging or sagging. This reflects our commitment towards slow fashion.
Minimum Waste
We strive towards minimal waste in our production, starting from the initial stage of cutting patterns up to the final stitching. Where possible, we utilize some left over unused fabric from production to make additional pool shoes.
Packaging
We are aiming to minimize the unnecessary use of packaging material, plastic packaging particularly.
Our Hang Tags and Header cards are made out of recyclable materials.
We utilize good quality Bio - Liners that are are required to be used in some of our swimwear products and they are Eco - Friendly and Bio - Degradable.
Save the Ocean
Our planet's oceans, once full of life and vitality, are now facing several threats due to our activities. Among these threats are the degradation of coral reefs, the rapid increase of ocean-bound plastic waste, and the decline of kelp forests.
Through our tie up with Virtue, we are successfully:
Offsetting Ocean Bound Plastic
Plastic pollution in our waters cause a grave threat to our marine life and its ecosystems. We have recovered 257 kilograms of ocean bound plastic since August 2023.
Restoring Coral Reefs
Coral reefs are a vital part of our marine ecosystem. By replanting coral reef fragments, we are helping to restore the coral reefs in our oceans one piece at a time and help reverse the damage.
Regenerating Kelp Forests
Kelp Forests provide food & shelter for various marine life and are very important for sustaining the biodiversity of the oceans. Kelp forests are now under threat from pollution, changing climate and other external threats. We are proud to say that we have joined the cause for rebuilding these ecosystems.
Our partnership with AZRAQ :
AZRAQ is a registered not-for-profit organization based in UAE, focused on marine conservation. Azraq aims to educate, motivate and activate the local community in order to become positive change makers for the benefit of the local and international waterways. We have not only sponsored a Mangrove planting event organized by Azraq but our team has participated in the planting of the mangroves. Mangrove forests are critical for protecting coastlines, endangered and threatened species, people’s livelihoods, and even helping combat climate change!
You can find out more here: https://azraqme.org
Giving Back
In one of our most recent initiatives to give back to the community, we donated newly manufactured swimwear to Thrift for Good. Thrift for good is a social enterprise focused on reusing items to reduce waste and proceeds from the sale of our swimwear went towards child sponsorships with IAT-Phillipines.
Putting our excess fabric to good use rather than creating landfill waste, we donated unused swimwear fabric to the Esmod French Fashion Institute, to be utilized by their student in coursework.
At COEGA Sunwear, we do not believe in fast fashion. We encourage repair & re-use of our garments. One of our most successful community initiatives in the past has been the Drop Your Shorts For Good campaign. This charitable endeavor enabled us to distribute gently used or new swim wear to local low-income workers across Dubai.
Some of our other CSR initiatives that we have done in the past, include PINK November campaign, donating funds to Al Jalila Foundation towards Breast Cancer Research.
Another initiative close to our heart is the Stop & Help charitable initiative that aims to provide meals and other basic necessities to the needy, to people out of jobs, to low-income group families amongst others. We were really humbled to make a donation to this worthwhile cause to support families in need during the pandemic in 2020.