Over 50% of the world’s population now live in urban areas. Our brains are swimming in stimuli. The smell of car fumes, noise of traffic and daily assault of signs and advertising commercials. Being outside in water helps you switch off, like a mental oasis for your mind. Dip in and declutter.
Dr Wallace J Nichols, a marine biologist and author of the book ‘Blue Mind’, states in his TED talk, “When we’re near, on, in or under water, we get a cognitive break because there’s simply less information coming in”. Your brain is relaxed but focused.
Now tune-in to the sensory pleasure of listening to waves. Feel the water lap against your skin. Inhale the cold air that hits your cheeks. Be in the moment and breathe. “When you swim outside it brings your attention back to the things that are going on around us. It’s nice to just slip away from the modern-day vacuum and feel alive” writes cold water swimming enthusiast Fay Preene.
You get a natural buzz from bathing outdoors. This ‘high’ is caused by the release of endorphins which help ease the sting of the cold. Journalist Alexandra Heminsley writes “Like a hangover in reverse, I had done something that was painful for a few minutes but left me feeling well for hours”.
Sarah, a 24-year-old, had been on anti-depressants for 7 years. A study published in the British Medical Journal showed a dramatic improvement once she started regular daily dips.
The founder of Mental Health Swims, Rachel Ashe, struggles with anxiety and depression and says “on bad days I don’t want to get out of the water because it makes such a difference to how I feel”. She set up the organisation for ‘peer support, togetherness and the benefits of cold water for mental health’. It is now popular nationwide.
Wild swimming could affect more than our current frame of mind. Ongoing studies suggest it could help prevent the early onset of dementia and decrease the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause.
Kick-start the day with a cold-water swim and get your blood pumping! Flushing your brain and vital organs with fresh blood will make you feel alive. Claire (name changed) lives in the Netherlands and swims in the North Sea. “We were jumping around, shrieking like schoolgirls” she says of her first cold-water swim.
Scientists from the Czech Republic found that cold-water immersions significantly increase white blood cells and antioxidants, helping you build a strong and healthy immune system. Cross-channel swimmer and Swim England coach Jane McCormick says in an article for Women’s Fitness that “circulation is improved, and toxins are more readily flushed out of our system, which leads to clearer skin and a healthy glow”.
Swimming exercises all the major muscle groups. Add cold water, and your body works even harder. Some evidence suggests cold-water swimmers build up more ‘brown fat’, which in turn eats up your energy stores of white fat (body fat is fondly known in the outdoor swimming community as ‘bioprene’(!)). Of course, you’ll need to warm-up once you get out, so have a slice of chocolate cake and eat it. Life’s all about balance!
Sixty percent of all modern diseases are connected to stress. Exercise, meditation and being in nature up to two hours a week are all known to help. Wild swimming could be the perfect remedy.
The shock of cold water hitting your body can feel like your insides have gone a round with Mike Tyson. The good news? After the initial ‘gasp response’ wears off your body goes in to fight-or-flight mode and releases the stress hormone Cortisol. In tests carried out by Professor Mike Tipton and Heather Massey at the University of Plymouth they found it only took six cold-water immersions to halve our stress response.
The more times you take the plunge, the more your body adapts to it. The nervous system learns to cope. Tipton says “We think that cold-water habituation resets those systems to deal with stress better”. Research is now being carried out to see if this could apply to dealing with all forms of stress. Put on your swimming costume and wash away your worries.
Katie Rew, founder of the Outdoor Swimming Society, says that wild swimming “made me feel brave again”. When we step out of our comfort zone we open our world to new possibilities. We grow, transform and feel exhilarated. Plunging in to a big body of water is psychologically and physically challenging. A swim on the wild side will give you a huge sense of accomplishment.
In her podcast P B Hughes says “it’s hard getting in to cold water. You need courage to do that. And I think it helps approach other areas of your life with a similar courage. It’s given me strength of mind and strength of body”. A companion can encourage you to continue. They’ll watch your back, witness you master your strokes or simply share a sunset swim (and cake!) with you. You’d get a few funny looks if you belted out a power-ballad in an indoor pool. But singing in the Serpentine with a fellow Whitney Houston-lover, why not?
When testing the waters of any new activity, it’s important to remember to wade in gently. For safety tips, advice, or to connect with a swimming soul-mate check out organisations such as www.wildswimming.co.uk; www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com or www.wildswim.com .
So, what are you waiting for? Cast off your clothes and inhibitions. Release your inner wild child. As the Outdoor Swimming Society slogan says, ‘Come on in, the water’s lovely’.
By Andrea Lee
]]>In the space of seven years she has started The Bahamas Plastic Movement; received an Environmental Youth Leader award from the Government of The Bahamas and managed to get single-use plastic banned throughout its seven hundred islands. In November 2020 she also won the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize. Not bad for someone who had never had a desire to teach or study.
I first met her when she was just seventeen years old and a local snorkel guide at a dive company where I worked. She was a smart and kind-hearted teenager with an underlying shyness. Now, at thirty-one, she is known as Kristal ‘Ocean’, an environmental campaigner with passion and purpose. I was curious. What made her declare “my voice matters” and how did she become a plastic warrior?
It all started with one plastic bag. The bag and other debris had wrapped itself around the intestines of a sea turtle that was brought into an aquarium where she worked. It took two days to remove it and convinced her to never to throw a plastic bag on the ground again. “I just saw a problem and knew I had to do something about it”, she says, matter-of-factly.
But how does one person begin to make a difference? “Start where you are with what you have”, she tells me. Kristal’s sustainability ethic was passed on to her by an older generation. “I always remember my grandfather reusing a can of beans to make a cup. My grandmother made bags out of old rice sacks. Nothing was wasted”, she recalls. Her advice is to get the best use out of the things you have for as long as possible. Reduce and refuse before you recycle.
Next, she says, you should “arm yourself with the information”. Eight million metric tonnes of plastic waste enter the oceans each year. During her research, Kristal found that around 93% of marine debris washing up on Eleuthera’s shores is plastic. The Bahamas loses up to 8.5 million US dollars a year in tourism because of it. She knew it couldn’t all come from cruise-shippers and domestic households.
In 2012 Krystal joined a 5Gyres research expedition to the Western Pacific garbage patch. A lot of the debris she saw had been swept over vast distances with the wind and waves. She realised the geographic location of The Bahamas was part of the issue. It was making them a giant sink hole for the world’s waste. It was then that the global impact of using single-use plastic really sunk in.
Each piece of plastic you use, wherever you use it, has an impact on someone else, somewhere else. “So, the next time you use a plastic straw or a plastic bag I want you to think about my ocean paradise, and the role that you play in polluting it”, she says.
Kristal decided her best strategy was to speak to the younger generation. “I’m talking to children. Children get it”. Led by what she describes as heart and passion, she started taking ‘Junior Plastic Warriors’ on beach surveys. The wave of an idea began to form. “I would just jokingly say this is The Bahamas Plastic Movement”, she recalls. One day, while sitting on her sofa, that wave crested in to an epiphany; “I’m going to start a non-profit”, she decided.
The Bahamas Plastic Movement started in 2013, with tuition-free summer camps for nine-to-fifteen-year-olds. To date over five hundred students have been engaged and educated, arming them to be the next generation of plastic warriors.
In January 2018, Kristal went to see the Environment Minister for The Bahamas in the capital, Nassau. She took a few of these students with her. They persuaded her to go in like true warriors, banging on tables and chanting “we are the change, we’re the solution, we can fix this plastic pollution”. The government sat up and listened.
Two years later, the ban of single-use plastic bags, cups, cutlery, straws and Styrofoam containers came into effect across The Bahamas. Although it’s early days, she acknowledges “it’s a great first step”. When she transited through Nassau airport recently, she says that it was amazing to see every restaurant complying, especially the iconic fast-food chains like Wendy’s.
So, what is next? She’s currently furthering her knowledge by studying for a PhD. More practically, she’d love a permanent building for what she calls her “backpack organisation, that goes wherever I go”, so she can keep reaching out to new recruits. But she knows the war is far from over. “Industry has to be a big part of the conversation”, she admits, with access to alternatives and better systems in place.
And the positives? “There’s an awakening happening”, she notes, citing other young warriors she admires such as the teenagers in Bali who started Bye Bye Plastic Bags. She is also encouraged that her fellow PhD students are mainly black females from small Caribbean islands like hers and confesses “It’s so great to see diversity. It reminds me that I’m not alone”.
In her acceptance speech for the Goldman prize Kristal made it clear that anyone can be a plastic warrior; “It doesn’t matter how young you are, where you’re from, what colour you are, this is your world, this is your future and you deserve a seat at the table in making these decisions that affect you”.
A song played endlessly in The Bahamas is ‘Cheeseburger in Paradise’. Thanks to Kristal, the burgers eaten there will no longer be served in a Styrofoam container. And if her successes continue paradise will have a hell of a lot less plastic.
by Andrea Lee
all photos credited to the Bahamas Plastic Movement
]]>We are surfers, divers and wild-swimming warriors. An increase in adrenaline-loving, adventurous pastimes has helped the global swimwear market to rise. This wave of popularity is expected to reach a staggering 29.1 billion US$ by 2025. We are high maintenance consumers. We need our swimsuits to be tough enough to tolerate salt, chlorine and UV light. Shrink-resistant, stretchy, comfortable and quick-drying. Oh, and don’t forget form-fitting and flattering. That’s a tall order for natural fabrics.
From Boohoo to Burberry, Asos to Armani, if you look at the label you will see one thing in common. The majority of swimsuits are made of 80-90% nylon or polyester and around 10-20% spandex, lycra or elastane.
These fabrics deliver on our high demands. Nylon became popular in WWII when other fabrics were scarce. It is soft, strong and lightweight (think sexy stockings of the 1940s!). Polyester is abrasion resistant, keeps its shape and doesn’t fade or degrade in harsh sunlight. They both offer the ultimate in easy care for our fast-paced lives.
What most people don’t realise is that these synthetic, man-made fibres are derived from PLASTIC. Polyamide (more commonly known as nylon) and polyester are synthetic polymers and are formed by a chemical reaction(www.scientificamerican.com). The process uses fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum mixed with air and water. It is energy hungry and toxic. It also leaves a heavy carbon footprint.
Both fabrics are also not biodegradable. Once we get bored of our beachwear or it wears out, we are condemning it to an ever-mounting mountain of rubbish. The equivalent of 1 rubbish truck of textiles is taken to a landfill site or burned every second, so that’s around 300 lorries worth by the time you have finished reading this.
Are we splitting hairs?
Just as brushing our hair pulls away small strands, every time we put our bathers in the washing machine, they release microscopic fibres. These can be less than 5mm long and thinner than a human hair. Too tiny to be trapped by washing machine filters and even wastewater treatment plants they eventually end up in our oceans. Can you imagine 1900 plastic particles floating in the ocean currents? That’s how much just one item of clothing can shed.
Once these fibres get in to our seas they act like a sponge, soaking up pesticides and pollutants, contaminating everything from coral to crustaceans. Synthetic fibres count for over a third of the primary plastic in our oceans. 1 in 3 fish caught for the food market have been found to have plastic in them.
Simplest short-term solution? Be kind to your cossie. Wash off that chlorine and salt in cold water wherever possible and dry out of direct sunlight.
Cast your net wider
If we want to be “part of the solution, and not part of the pollution” as an anonymous quote goes, then there are ways we can redress the balance. Below are just a few organisations trying to make a change:
Healthy Seas encourages clean-ups of the ocean with volunteer divers and works with those in the fishing sector to find sustainable solutions for their waste management.
5Gyres focuses on finding plastic pollution first-hand through research expeditions. They invite citizen scientists, corporations and celebrities to, literally, get on board.
Ellen MacArthur Foundation believes in a circular economy. They provide education and resources and work with the world’s leading organisations to show them exactly what is possible.
UN Alliance for Sustainable Fashion is trying to reduce the negative environmental and social aspects of the fashion industry. They aim to coordinate support and promote projects with other UN bodies worldwide.
So, what can a budding bikini babe buy instead?
The good news. Consumers who care about their purchases are on the rise and the swimwear industry is sourcing fabric alternatives. We can speak with how we spend. Dana Thomas, author of Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of clothes, states “it is absolutely important that swimwear brands swerve towards greener fabrics than virgin nylon, and especially polyester”.
The ideal is a circular economy where resources are constantly used. No waste, just constant regeneration.
Net income
Commercial nets discarded by the fishing industry create a huge amount of environmental damage. They drift in currents, ensnare sea life and suffocate coral. According to Nofir, a company based in Norway, they have collected over 30,000 tons of these nets to date. After cleaning them they are reformed in to a nylon thread. The result is Econyl®, which is making waves in the world of sustainable swimwear. It has all the same qualities as nylon but without the nasty fossil fuel production (just water and heat). It can match the quality and performance of its carbon-unfriendly cousin, but better still, it’s infinitely recyclable.
Clear plastic water bottles are a real hazard for turtles as they mistake them for jellyfish. In fact, a recent study found ingested plastic in 100% of turtles examined. But if you fish those plastic bottles out of the water and shred, melt and shape them, they can be turned in to recycled polyester, commonly known as rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate). It’s putting a new spin on one of the most popular yarns in the clothing industry.
Seamorgens are going even further in their aim to reduce their use of virgin plastics in their swimwear. No plastic hooks, clasps or buckles. No plastic packaging. Every garment is reversible and designed so you can get as much wear from it as possible. Waste fabric is used to make into other products and we also support projects who want to protect the ocean environment too.
Iconic fashion designer Vivienne Westwood says “Buy less. Choose well. Make it last”. If we do our research and shop smartly, we can help keep our oceans clean, one costume at a time. And we can look like a beach babe, too. Remember, like Dory in Finding Nemo, ‘just keep swimming’, but don’t forget to check the label of what you’re swimming in.
By Andrea Lee
]]>But is it enough?
Fashion poses one of the greatest threats to our environment. Responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the fashion industry produces about 20% of global waste water and perpetuates some of the most shocking labor and human rights abuses on a global scale. Resource and labor intensive in the worst ways, 85% of these textiles ultimately end up in landfills, contributing to a perpetual cycle of pollution, abuse, and waste. While it has gained attention in recent years, there is still a long way to go towards changing consumer mindsets and truly making the connection between the clothes we wear and the natural world around us.
Ultimately, the global ocean has been one of the most severely impacted ecosystems in the world of fast fashion: waste water directly alters the state of fragile coastal ecosystems, while plastic-based synthetic fibers like nylon and polyester shed microplastic particles that never biodegrade. For marine animals and organisms, microplastic ingestion has been shown to cause a reduction in feeding capacity, energy reserves, and reproductive output (Nelms et al., 2018). These particles can also trigger localized immune responses in humans, releasing toxic chemicals and other pollutants including heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants like PCBs and DDT (Cox et al., 2019).
Given the directly harmful impacts of these fabrics to our seas, why is there not more of a conversation around the fashion we choose to wear in the ocean? Clothing does not just impact the seas from a distance via pollution or washing; fabrics can also have a detrimental effect by shedding microplastic fibers, dyes, and other harmful pollutants while you enjoy your next dive. While many companies are beginning to address their environmental practices higher up the supply chain, few are addressing what the actual product itself represents when you wear it in the waves.
Sustainable swimwear should do more than just avoid environmental damage; it should be rooted in a brand actively working to make the oceans a cleaner place. With 4.8 to 12.7 million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean each year, every solution that works to put even a small dent in this pollution is a solution we desperately need. The modern recycling we know of has been revealed as an intentional strategy from the oil and gas industry to encourage consumers to use more plastic, without fearing its consequences; a staggering 91% of the plastics we believe get sorted and recycled never do. Recycling should be more than just a label on a plastic coffee cup that tells us whether or not we have the moral license to purchase another beverage; recycling should be rooted in the concept of a circular economy, a system aimed at continuously eliminating waste through the constant reuse of resources.
If all of us chose to buy clothing that is made from recycled materials or organic fibers, doesn’t pollute our waterways, or has been upcycled or re-sold, thousands of precious ocean habitats could be spared an extra stress in a world already nearing a frightening number of environmental tipping points into true climate disaster.
SeaMorgens is committed to being a company of the future, where a circular economy is the norm and sustainability is every seasons’ trend at Paris Fashion Week. Each swimsuit in the SeaMorgens line is made from materials produced from recycled plastic bottles and abandoned fishing nets. Profits directly support marine conservation organizations on the frontline of the battle to save our seas, including Marine Megafauna Foundation, Healthy Seas Foundation and Shark Guardian. Waste fabrics are repurposed into hair scrunchies or face masks, and each unique ocean print is hand-drawn to not only reflect the ocean creatures we love, but to remind us all of what fashion can and should value: the magical marine world upon which all of our lives depend.
Fashion does not just exist in some far-away realm, separate from the natural world we immerse ourselves in; thus the products we choose to wear in nature should not only positively impact it, but convey a message that goes beyond the next fashion trend. By critically examining the clothes in our closet—and choosing to share a message grounded in sustainable practices by wearing brands like SeaMorgens in your next beach or underwater photo—we can all move towards a future that is better for nature and the planet, without ever sacrificing the joy, beauty, and creative expression of the clothes we love.
By Chloe King
]]>These early experiences in life inspired my sister, Angela, and me, Michelle, to start SeaMorgens, a sustainable swimwear line that takes the global problem of single-use plastics and turns it into a fashionable solution. My own personal journey into the world of fashion and sustainability began with the ocean. I spent over 10 years in Australasia and Southeast Asia working in the scuba diving industry, witnessing firsthand the effects that single-use plastics and climate change have on the underwater world. Angela, on the other hand, has always been committed to the world of land-based conservation. A lover of animals of all kinds from a young age, she stopped eating meat many years ago and is devoted to a mostly plastic-free lifestyle—no small task with two small children at home!
While Angela and I have always shown and interest in two different areas of conservation, we were both driven by a desire to find sustainable solutions to this global challenge together. While I obtained a degree in fashion BA (Hons) from Northumbia University, I quickly realized that the fashion industry as it is today was not for me. With a heavy dependence on cheap materials, poor labor standards and practices, and environmentally destructive practices, I knew that the fashion industry lacked the devotion to conservation Angela and I had maintained our whole lives.
While working in the scuba diving industry, I started to make several bikinis in my spare time.
I gave these bikinis to friends or used them myself, but never considered starting an actual brand to sell and market these products. After the encouragement of many happy friends/first customers, I eventually made the decision to do a small collection. As a scuba diver, free diver and (terrible!) surfer, I wanted to create a swimwear range for fellow sea lovers that is fun, comfortable, supportive and environmentally friendly.
SeaMorgens is unlike almost all swimwear companies out there, many of which actually produce fabric with new plastics and in the process produce lots of marine micro plastics. At SeaMorgens we only uses fabrics made from recycled plastic bottles, and other household waste or fabrics made with ECONYL® regenerated yarn from nylon waste. We also wanted to avoid any type of plastic fastenings and packaging that cannot be recycled, so all swimsuits avoid the use of these items. Given the different challenges that countries and communities all over the world face in decreasing dependence on plastic pollution, we don’t believe the answer to our global crisis is to stop using plastics completely. We just believe that with swimwear it can be avoided, and at SeaMorgens, we can make a truly positive impact.
We also believe in ethically made slow fashion. I personally make all the samples myself at home in a very modest set up.
I have a great relationship with our SeaMorgens manufacturer, based in Bali, where I play an active part in the creation process and collect all of the waste fabric to ensure I am in control of what happens to our waste. We want to produce a finished product that we can say had as little negative impact on the environment, and the people who made the garment, as it possibly can. This is why we started projects to make bralettes, face masks, and scrunchies from our waste fabric cut offs. We think of creative ideas often to ensure these precious resources never go unused. We have just one collection and it has nothing to do with current fashion trends, but rather timeless ocean inspired pieces.
A percentage of our profits also help directly fund marine conservation programs happening around the world. We support the work of Marine Megafauna Foundation with the profit from our Manta Ray collection. With the profit from our Ocean collection, we support Healthy Seas, who are responsible for recovering the ghost fishing nets that go into our swimwear. We also have new and exciting collaborations coming up in the near future with other organisations like Shark Guardian.
SeaMorgens future plans include expanding our range with some new exciting ideas, as well as continuing to concentrate our efforts to make perfect swimwear pieces for the active ocean lover. We also wish to continue finding new and innovative ways to use our waste and what cannot be saved will return to the starting process to form a closed loop system. We want to aim for total zero waste.
Today, SeaMorgens still is run by the same two sisters who fell in love with the UK seaside and found our passion for saving the planet. I hand design the bikinis myself and work through the production process from start to finish, while Angela manages operations, marketing, and customer service. You can ensure that each bikini you buy is made with love and nothing but the most sustainable and ethically-sourced materials from beginning to end. We love, wear, and use our product ourselves every chance we can, hoping that SeaMorgens will be one among many working to make the fashion industry—and the world—a more sustainable, eco-conscious place.
By Michelle Morgan
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