14 DAY TRIAL // Clothing company Patagonia has recently made it public news that it intends to provide its customers with the world's first plant-based wetsuits.
Apparently, the company intends to use guayule (i.e. a flowering shrub) as the raw material for developing a new series of wetsuits that are as efficient as one's run-off-the-mill neoprene ones are, yet much more environmentally friendly.
The wetsuits will first be rolled out in Japan, and greenheads who happen to also be surfing fanatics will be able to order them online as early as next spring.
Tree Hugger quotes Patagonia's Surf Director, Jason McCaffrey, who made a case of how, “After four years of working together, Patagonia and Yulex have co-developed a unique material that allows us to make a wetsuit that is 60% guayule based.”
Furthermore, “Our goal is to have the formula be 100% plant-based, but we feel that for now this new material is a big enough step forward to let the world know it is possible to buy something clear.”