It’s that time again!  The Green Stylist is pleased to offer our December/January giveaway in partnership with ECO SWIM by AQUA GREEN, a swimwear company with a mission to “provide fashionable, excellent quality, and planet-friendly swimwear.” We wrote an article about ECO SWIM a few weeks back, but were so impressed with their product and business that we wanted to share a bikini with one of our readers.

The Green Stylist interviewed Sandra Davidoff from ECO SWIM by AQUA GREEN  to answers a few questions about their amazing company.

Q: What efforts has Eco Swim done as a company to become more sustainable?

ECO SWIM BY AQUA GREEN is proudly made in the USA. Our company is 75 years young, based in PA, and has the honor to say over 100 employees who have worked in our company for over 25 years! The ECO SWIM BY AQUA GREEN team has developed new fabrics never available before in the swim market. We are now able to provide the most fashion forward, sustainable collection in the marketplace.

Launching the first commercially viable fashion collection of swimsuits comes with a huge responsibility. We embrace sustainability in every aspect of the garment. The fabrics used are made from certified post consumer and recycled components, as are the elastics and bra cups. We recently installed a new computerized fabric cutter that uses 1/4 of the energy than other present day models and, we continue to investigate green solutions in all aspects of manufacturing.

Q: What was leading this effort? What was the inspiration?

As a 4th generation family company, we recognized the corporate future had to mirror our personal passions. The most important contribution to the organization was to formalize and integrate the family’s passion for environmental issues. That formalization came in the launch of ECO SWIM BY AQUA GREEN. This new collection was created with great industry relationships and new technology that did not exist three years ago.

Q: What makes your swimwear eco friendly? 

From our designers to our purchasing agents to our factory managers to our sewing machine operators to our maintenance staff, everyone has a common goal of reducing the company’s carbon footprint in the sand. Our associates make our company more sustainable through their actions, such as participating in sponsored beach clean ups.We believe to talk the talk; we must first walk to the walk.

Q: We’d love to learn more about your partnerships with United by Blue and Repreve.

Our relationship with United by Blue was developed after meeting the individuals at the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City, Utah. We were blown away by their commitment to reducing the extraordinary amount of trash in the oceans and their remarkable cleanups initiatives. The entrepreneurship of Brian Linton (founder of UBB) is one of true, pure passion and, his organization and inspiring initiatives is one we wish to emulate.

The technologies created by Unifi (Repreve) are a work in progress, and their commitment to recycling pre and post consumer waste clearly makes them a leader in global greenhouse gas emission reduction. Taking their technology, and partnering with our fabric suppliers, we have been able to develop new swimsuit fabrics that use recycled components but feel, stretch and perform as well, if not better, than pre-existing fabrics. This is remarkable because it allows a sustainable initiative; equal footing to compete with the fashion customer

Q:  Where can people buy Eco Swim currently?

Dillards.com, AquaBeachwear.com, BonTon.com as well as Macys, Everything But Water, Canyon Beachwear and a host of specialty retailers across the nation. See ECOSWIM.COM for more information.

Q: What is next for the company? 

We are just scratching the surface with our fashion eco imitative. We believe we have just begun on a marvelous new quest! New fabrics are being developed on a continual basis, to point, we plan to present later in 2012, a cover up made from recycled coffee ground…that’s so exciting!!!

Thank you Sandra for your insightful answers, and good luck to our  giveaway winner of  FREE ECO SWIM by AQUA GREEN bikini!

One lucky fan of The Green Stylist will win the two-piece black halter bikini pictured above.

TO ENTER:

1. “LIKE” both The Green Stylist and ECO SWIM on Facebook.

2. Follow BOTH companies on Twitter

3. Sign-up for our newsletter by entering your email on our homepage (in the top sidebar). This is how we will let you know if you are a lucky winner.

***DEADLINE TO ENTER is JANUARY 15st***

We will email the lucky winner January 15st to collect your mailing address, you preferred size and your prize will be mailed shortly after. We will also post your name as the contest winner on our Facebook, Twitter and website channels.