5 Ways to Stay Sustainably Styled Year Round from Everything But Water

Looking to stay fashion-forward on your next beach vacation while still being earth-friendly? We spoke to our friends at Everything But Water -- our neighbors at 1 Hotel South Beach --  to get their pointers on looking your best on the beach while still reducing your carbon footprint. Read on for sustainable style tips from Sabra Knock, co-owner and Creative Director at Everything But Water. 

Living with a sustainable mindset should extend to your fashion and beauty choices. We are increasingly becoming a culture trained to buy inexpensive goods we’ll use a few times before discarding. The most important tenet to staying sustainably styled is to invest in quality pieces and take good care of them.

1.    Invest in well-made pieces that you’ll enjoy wearing over and over. You will pay more upfront when buying quality swimsuits over those from fast-fashion retailers, but in doing so you avoid contributing to the massive amount of clothing we’re discarding each year. While some pieces get a new life in the secondhand market, most do not; cheap styles often fall apart too quickly to make it past a single swimsuit season.

2.  Shop brands that use upcycled or eco-friendly materials, support artisan crafts or produce locally. There are now gorgeous swim styles made with upcycled material including reclaimed fishing nets or plastic bottles, and resortwear that use natural dyes, organic cotton and other eco-friendly materials  Other brands support small communities or traditional craftwork. Seek out these pieces for a unique look that’s also sustainable. 

3.  Think about your daily footprint. Invest in a reusable water bottle and coffee cup, and make it a habit to bring it with you so you can forego disposables. Say no to straws when dining out. Like to travel with Ziploc bags for toiletries, snacks and wet bathing suits? Use our Stasher reusable silicone pouches instead. They’re dishwasher-safe, make great TSA-friendly cosmetic bags, double as snack carriers, and are watertight (perfect for protecting your phone when you’re near water).

4.  Take a careful look at your beauty products. Our beauty routine can be full of chemicals we shouldn’t let go down the drain, much less absorb into our bodies. Your sunscreen might be a culprit too: Oxybenzone is an ingredient that’s known to be dangerous for coral reefs. Luckily there are many wonderful earth-friendly products just as efficacious as others. 

5.  Wash less, hand wash. You should always hand wash your swimwear in cold water to preserve its beauty—never use a washing machine or the dryer. Beyond maintaining the integrity of your suit, hand washing avoids releasing microfibers into the sewage system that will eventually make their way into the water stream. In general, try to get as many wears out of an item as possible before washing and stick to energy-friendly cold water and a front-loading machine.